This is a book based on a true story while certain changes has been made to the material to protect the individual in question.
The book itself goes from a woman finding herself in a disciplinary hearing with no warning and having one working day to come back with any answers to a long list of allegations. This is followed by a brief introduction to the characters and the business and work having been achieved and what happened due to broken promises.
It covers, to set the professional scene, the commitment and beliefs with a relocation due to business commitments. How she and the executive team re-invigorated a firm who had previously been hit by a fire, had people disappointed in the workforce and how it was re-energised with new belief and enthusiasm and the promises of additional VC capital being injected.

An undercurrent is her pregnancy and above all a previous pregnancy and anxiety which unfortunately ended in misery and the loss of a child, making this pregnancy even more important. It goes through the implications and mental pressures of IVF treatment as she is turning 40, and career having been her sole dedication, and the fear of not knowing anything else.

It taps the challenges a woman is facing in a man's world and how this is worsened further as a woman discloses she is pregnant. Some of the passages clearly shows intimidation and pressure in power struggles and 'bullying'.

The book deals with the major change of identity going from being a major professional 'title' vs now being a person and above all else a mother. A mother that in simple terms had her maternity stolen by a Corporate due to their financial situation ripping out any promises or long term commitment. This is placing an individual - in her most vulnerable state - as an outlaw where the Corporate is taking no responsibility or care although having been one of their most senior people in the business.

There is some surprising material about the major psychological challenges facing a professional who has never really stayed at home. Now being a mother of twins in a house and place she knows nobody, home can become groundhog day. All of a sudden the husband she saw maximum a few dinners a week became somebody she spent every second with 24/7, somebody who had had an independent financial life now finding herself and her new family in a struggle to find enough money to feed themselves. It goes into CBT therapy very briefly and the belief of never start taking anti-depressants, but instead solve the mental challenges by understanding.

The tribunal process is not explicitly described but one can understand the long and non-supportive process an individual is more or less forced to pursue. What that process does to a small and new family, where no support or financial aid is given, while legal fees are amounting to possibly the highest commitment outside of a mortgage. The Corporate world has all the major trump cards and the employee is supposed to just lie down without a fight. Having gone through the process she thoroughly understands why and resent the fact this is happening, hoping to give strength to the individuals that do decide to go forward. It is also very common practise to have the defendant's lawyers making life impossible for the claimant to self-represent, again upping the financial pressures.

It deals with the impact of a slandering article in Times, ruining 16 years of unblemished career, and how friends can be based on financial income rather than for who you are as a person. The juxtaposition of trying to be a happy mother, with upcoming tribunal appearances. The additional pressure with a case going part-heard and having the case postponed almost another year, being tied into a chapter in life where it is hard to move forward.

The entire story ends with a philosophical epilogue how some of these life altering experiences has changed the life and the direction taken and how much joy there is in life by understanding the real joys and the real luxuries, vs the external trappings and frequently superficial items we place value in. The realisation how she would never have spent the time with her children, but instead most likely had returned very stressed back into work after just a short space of time.

What does not kill you makes you stronger - this book covers it.