• Fiction. By Karen Quinn. Touchstone, $14.Grade: B+

Plot in a nutshell: Quinn's latest book begs the working-woman question: "Can women really have it all?" But after spending 424 pages with the endearing, yet somewhat nave Christy Hayes - Olympic-gold medallist, turned CEO of her own company and wife and mother - women may find themselves asking: Do they really want it all?

While enjoying the success of her multi-million dollar athletic shoe company Baby G, Christy meets and marries Michael, another powerful CEO worth millions. It's when her housekeeper suddenly dies and gives Christy custody of her granddaughter, an 11-year-old girl named Renata, that her charmed life begins to unravel. Christy is then forced to juggle being a powerful and respected businesswoman, a devoted wife to Michael, and a good mother to a child who blames Christy for her grandmother's death - all while dealing with the woes of being successful and working with Brownie Rich, the PTA mother spawned from the depths of hell.

Sample of prose: "In her black take-no-prisoners suit and stiletto heels, Christy may as well have been wearing a sign that read LIVE SMALLPOX VIRUS - STAY BACK. The Mommies wore neutral-colored designer slacks, Prada sports shoes, cashmere tops, Hermes scarves, full makeup, and model-straight hair. The required look was one of accidental chic, a presentation that whispers, 'for a girl who didn't even try, don't I look rich and perfect?' And they accomplished this expensive, time-consuming nonchalance before eight in the morning."

Pros: Renata steals the story with her charming diary entries teeming with adolescent angst, and Quinn throws in laugh-out-loud moments when least expected.

Cons: The ruthlessness of the female antagonists is cringe worthy.

Final word: Working women with families will especially appreciate and relate to the story, and will, at times, empathize with Christy as she struggles to balance career, marriage and motherhood.