Adventures of a Girl Architect
a novel by Hazel Harzinger
Smart and hardworking Elena Troye is determined to become a practicing architect. In this witty, fast-paced novel, she recounts the ups and downs of breaking into a male-dominated profession. After a disastrous studio review at the University of Michigan, there's the seeming triumph of landing a job in glitzy, booming Las Vegas in 2006. When the national recession deepens in 2009, Elena returns to the Midwest for grad school and then the grueling architecture licensing exams.
Along the way, she balances the professional with the personal—boyfriends, family ties, friendships. And she maintains her interest in fashion, even if that seems “girly.” In the workplace world of 2011-2014, Elena battles harassment from her superiors and mud on construction sites. She never gives up her dream of designing beautiful, functional buildings—and finding romantic happiness.
Elena calls herself a “Girl Architect” with ironic self-mockery. Follow her on her remarkable journey as she defies the gender stereotypes. Read Adventures of a Girl Architect, now available on Amazon.com. Click here to order it in either ebook or paperback format.
This coming-of-age tale is the debut novel of Hazel Harzinger, who lives with her family in Michigan.
All five-star reviews on Amazon! Here are some of the comments:
Reviewer One
5.0 out of 5 stars "What do you think you want to be when you grow up?" is a question we often ask young people. It's fun to hear what children dream or imagine as a future occupation for themselves. For some time now young girls have been eagerly responding to this inquiry with "I want to be a pediatrician." "A trial lawyer." "I'd like to own a pet store." In this wonderful story, "Adventures of a Girl Architect", the heroine, Elena Troye, "discovers" her interest in becoming an architect via the intersecting circles of her interests in technology, physics, and art. Voila!
"Adventures" is a quest story. Elena takes the reader on a rollicking ride through her dramatic and real world adventures to become a licensed Architect: admission to the University of Michigan College of Architecture and Urban Planning, meeting the demands of undergrad studio classes and a senior project, the discouraging search for a first job (in Las Vegas of all places), followed by a better second job, completing the Internship Development Program, returning to graduate school at the University of Illinois in Chicago, the difficult search for the next real world job, and the next, while simultaneously tackling a five year marathon of seven exams required to become a Licensed Architect.
Elena's "Adventures" add up to a terrific story, filled with real time dialogue between Elena and her teachers, fellow students, assorted bosses, clients, a fiance and her parents. In these "dialogues" the author uses italics to give voice to Elena's "inner thoughts", in the moment commentary I enjoyed as fresh, amusing and revealing. As a fellow traveler on Elena's career quest, I will admit to growing very fond of her. I liked her mind, her ethics, her perseverance, and her savvy fashion blog which added texture and color to all her "encounters".
If you think you might enjoy reading a lively, firsthand account of the arduous trail and eventual triumph of a bright, capable young woman as she moves from home to college to career, I highly recommend this book.
Reviewer Two:
Realistic and engaging. You will wish you could go to lunch with Elena and hear more of her stories. Both thought-provoking and entertaining.
Reviewer Three:
This fun, engaging read follows Elena through a series of romances, but the main one is with the dream of becoming an architect. We see her follow her passion for creating buildings and spaces that unite technology, science, and art through her education and early career. But especially once she's out of school, the gender imbalance in the field and persisting sexism threaten to sideline her as merely a "girl architect."
I found much to relate to in Elena's struggle to be respected and to find a place for herself in the field without losing herself in the process. This dance is artfully dramatized by her discovery that as an "Autumn" she's not supposed to wear the blacks and whites that constitute the unofficial uniform of all architects who want to be taken seriously. As she remakes her wardrobe into something professional but still colorful and, most importantly, true to herself, she also finds her way through and around the inherent competitiveness of the field and its sometimes-appalling culture of underestimating and disrespecting women.
The sexism plot is handled deftly. It's not heavy handed. Elena has good bosses along with bad ones, and she and her friends and colleagues encounter firms whose problems go far beyond sexism. But as a theme, it threads together many of Elena's adventures in a way that gives an otherwise conventional bildungsroman a little extra drama and interest. A very satisfying read that I'd especially recommend to anyone interested in architecture, fashion, or #metoo-conscious coming-of-age stories.