THE YEAR IS 1994 and American politics is sexist and hardball

With the Republican Revolution on its way, Democratic Party strategist, Melissa Carnes, a fierce, combative woman in the male-dominated world of high politics, heads to her home state of Ohio to resuscitate the floundering Senate campaign of Kyle Porter, a successful lawyer-entrepreneur running for public office for the first time. Confident and professionally successful, Mel nonetheless wrestles with personal doubts and the legacy of her dead mother as she handles office intrigue, a looming scandal, and an undisciplined candidate.

An intimate portrait of the power struggles that interweave the insular world of election campaigns, 1994 provides an unblinking look into the high stakes battle of a U.S. Senate race as experienced by a 29 year-old woman fighting to maintain the respect and obedience of her colleagues, balance life and career, rediscover her commitment to a better world, and revenge herself against an opposing campaign manager who raped a college friend of hers.

1994 is a fast-paced, entertaining education in campaign politics that’s as relevant in today’s world as it was thirty years ago and a bracing reminder that we're not much farther from the sexism of the past than we hoped and that bare-knuckle, hardball politics is the same as ever.