THE STEEL BANKERESS ; A story on the unsavory details of the modern day corporate slavery in banking.

             THE STEEL BANKERESS

The major characters of the novel are distinctive in their diverse attributes and in no small measure contribute to telling the whole story of marketers the way it is and make us ask this all important question are they really and truly victims or oppressors?

The marketer or account officer every business man and woman would like to have is Pamela the main character. Fired by haunting nightmares of a secret and shameful past,

she is portrayed as the typical ruthless boss a growing trend in the Banking Industry who runs her Foundation Bank branch with hands of steel and her staff are regularly abused with mental whips. Here is also a woman who is unnaturally obsessed with conceding to the needs of the bank customers and her employers at the brutal expense of the staff that report to her. Coupled with that is her callous ambition as her ferocious scheming puts her far ahead of her other colleagues. Pamela desperately desires to be elevated to the position of Business Development Manager in anticipation of the approval of the commercial banking license for the bank. This very promotion she desires will ultimately push her over the edge of normalcy as she goes too far in her pursuit of it. 

The richness of the story is also embedded in three other characters that hold their own in the novel. These are former contemporaries now Pamela's subordinates, there is the weak minded Rachael who happens to be Pamela's deputy, the tooth pick. Like the proverbial sheep that devours the faeces of the dog it follows around. Rachael is desperate to succeed Pamela. She however lacks the same level of ruthlessness. Pushed to the wall she is on the verge of a nervous breakdown. An unfortunate episode in her family caused by her efforts to please Pamela could finally cause her mind to collapse completely. 

The third character in this novel is the heavily pregnant but stubborn Enitan and Pamela's headache. She is the third in branch hierarchy. Enitan's unexpressed desire for a complete change in her personal life and career is seen as an opportunity for Pamela to completely destroy her.

It is the third character, Pamela's protégé, the pretty and vivacious Adeola a relatively junior officer in the branch by virtue of being a marketing staff. She is the chosen one. However she is caught up in a web of atrocities engineered by Pamela that could turn the man she loves against her. 

The fifth character is Dr. Mayowa the evil one who struggles to push a medical business proposal around the banks located in Lagos. She eventually finds her way to Foundation Bank and with the support of Pamela causes serious havoc in the professional and personal lives of the other characters.

What made these characters what they are? The novel also revolves around the men in their personal and professional lives, their customers, their rivals, their parents, their backgrounds and the future they each desire for themselves. It tells a story of a bank tottering on the edge of a management upheaval and how it affects each character. 

This is a story that will definitely evoke strong feelings. The reader may have intense pity for the tormented Pamela, the villainess, respect for Enitan's show of maturity and compassion, irritation at Adeola's naiveté, repulsiveness at the unscrupulous Dr. Mayowa and probably deep empathy for the mentally disturbed Rachael.

The visual settings, like the Lagos bar beach used to tell the different stories of the characters is also a compelling tug that creates larger than life images and situations for the reader to also experience firsthand how each character evolves.

A must read if you want your thoughts provoked by the injustice.