Female Intelligence
Reviews • Inspiration • Read the First Chapter
A contemporary comedy of manners, Female Intelligence is a social satire about the way men and women communicate - or don't.
Dr. Lynn Wyman has a wildly successful practice in sensitivity training, instructing men how to become fluent in the language of Womenspeak so they can relate better to the women in their lives. She teaches them how to ask for directions, how to participate in "active listening" and how to say, "How was your day?" With thousands of satisfied clients, numerous talk show appearances and a bestselling book, Lynn Wyman is at the top of her game. But when Lynn's personal life suddenly becomes the stuff of tabloids and her professional reputation is sullied, she must do something - anything - to resurrect her career.
After spotting macho CEO Brandon Brock on the cover of Fortune magazine's "America's Toughest Bosses" issue, she bets her friends that, by tinkering with his words, by adjusting his speech patterns, by putting him through her Wyman Method, she can turn him into "America's Most Sensitive Boss" and climb back on top. Little does she know that by winning her bet she will lose her heart.
Female Intelligence is a hilarious look at our inability to bridge the communication gap between men and women, despite all the Mars/Venus books on the market. It's got Heller's trademark mix of humor, romance and suspense, not to mention her dead-on take on men, women and relationships.
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Woman's Own Magazine
May 2001
Jane Heller's novel is a deliciously clever battle-of-the-sexes romp. Lynn Wyman, a renowned linguist who teaches macho men how to communicate with women, becomes a laughingstock when her "devoted" husband cheats. To rebuild her damaged practice (and ego), she pursues, as a client, the charismatic uber-chauvinist Brandon Brock - and it soon becomes evident both have met their match. Female Intelligence is a lot more fun to read than the Mars/Venus books, and just as enlightening.
USA Today
April 26, 2001
It may take two to tango, but it also takes two to talk. That's the premise of Jane Heller's Female Intelligence, a romantic comedy that spoofs the current obsession with linguists and the language of love....It's the story of a woman who trains men how to talk like women. Lynn Wyman has made her fortune teaching men the Wyman Method of communicating with wives, girlfriends and the women they work with. But her fortune and her life take a bad turn when the media discover that Lynn, the communications expert, can't keep her own husband from turning to another woman....The dialogue is hilarious....It's easy to picture Meg Ryan in the role of Lynn and Tom Hanks as the insufferable Brandon. Is it any wonder, then, that Sis Boom Bah(a tale of sibling rivalry), one of Heller's earlier books, has been optioned by Julia Roberts' Shoelace Productions. Heller says she was inspired to write the book after she overheard the following conversation between a married couple leaving a theatre. She says: "Harry, what did you think of the movie?" He grunts. She says: "I asked you, what did you think of the movie?" He shrugs. She says: "Why can't you talk to me?" He says: "About what?" Sound familiar? Then it's time for a tete-a- tete with Female Intelligence.
Palm Beach Post
April 22, 2001
The good news is that Jane Heller's eighth novel continues to highlight her sharp, witty brand of fiction. For close to a decade, Heller has been producing a light, tasteful, humorous prose designed to appeal to women too sophisticated for romance novels but too lighthearted for the classics. In her latest offering...Heller again offers us a likable and slightly flawed heroine. Imagine this scenario: A pleasant enough woman named Lynn Wyman has established a nationally recognized career as a gender communications specialist. The Wyman Method contends that "men could be taught linguistically how to relate better to women...by making simple adjustments in their speech patterns, by tinkering with their words, and by coaching them on their delivery, even the most clueless, verbally challenged man could, within a few short months, learn to be more sensitive, more forthcoming about their feelings and, best of all, less exasperating to live with." Married to a carpenter and enjoying a white collar female/blue collar male relationship, Lynn has a successful, if high-pressure, lifestyle. She justifies her spousal disparity by rationalizing that, "He was easy on my intellect. Instead of challenging me, he appreciated me, which wasn't a terrible thing." When things go wrong at home, Lynn turns to her girlfriends who comprise "The Brain Trust." Penny, Isabel, Gail and Sarah are all successful in their respective careers and provide support, encouragement and comfort when life seems particularly grim. Lynn decides to pursue one of America's most misogynistic CEOs - Brandon Brock. Believing that adding his name to her client list will restore a career in danger of sputtering, Lynn struggles to convince the attractively arrogant businessman that there's a lot to be gained by treating women like part of the team instead of as the opposition. Part of the book's humor revolves around the man-bashing that takes place when Lynn and her friends get together. For example: "What was it with men anyway? Now that they had their Propecia and their Prozac and their Viagra and were, therefore, no longer bald, depressed or impotent, they acted like idiots." There is also wry humor whenever Lynn's 27-year-old assistant, Diane, appears. "Since I'd known Diane, her hair had been natural red, a mud brown, and a strawberry blonde with streaks of forest green; her current shade was a blinding platinum." Readers will find themselves wondering how Lynn will get her career and her love life back on track. They will wonder who betrayed her. And they will wish her the best when they finish the book. If you are a woman who likes other women, likes entertaining fiction, and likes men, any one of Jane Heller's previous novels will be a treat. Female Intelligence, however, is smart enough to turn you into a genuine Heller fan.
San Jose Mercury News
April 1, 2001
Why can't men learn to speak? That's what linguist Lynn Wyman wonders. She's the Henry Higgins character in Female Intelligence, Jane Heller's riff on "My Fair Lady." What a boon to humanity it would be if men could and did talk like women. To that end, she develops the Wyman Method, a crash course in teaching men "womenspeak." Like Rex Harrison's character in "My Fair Lady," Wyman is comically arrogant and self-absorbed. Heller plays the Wyman Method for laughs, and gets them. Clients are taught not only to ask, "and how was your day?" without prompting, but also to share the minutiae of their own lives, to gossip, and to shed tears. She subjects them to the music of real-life sensitive men: Kenny G, Michael Bolton, John Tesh. Wyman's own husband, Kip, is the poster boy for womenspeak...Wyman and Kip are both media celebrities, but when the tabloids find out that Kip has been "sharing" with another woman, Wyman - the expert who can't hold her own husband - sees her career go down in flames. Kip cries, of course, when she throws him out. Now a media pariah, she is trying to think of a way to win her reputation back - and then she happens across a Fortune magazine story on the toughest bosses in America, and it strikes her. She will take the meanest, most insensitive, most sexist man in America and remake him in six months through the Wyman Method. And there he is: Brandon Brock, the Neanderthal-like but ruggedly handsome CEO of Finefoods Inc. First she has to talk him into it, and there are some amusing scenes about that. Then the lessons begin, and we are in 21st century "My Fair Lady" land from then on.... This is all very funny stuff.
Romantic Times
April 2001
Linguist Lynn Wyman seems to have it all: a good marriage and a very successful career expounding on the Wyman Method for teaching men to communicate better with women. That was before she discovered that her husband Kip was cheating on her and the ensuing tabloid scandal that destroyed her career. Desperate to rebuild her life, Lynn sees an article on the country's toughest bosses and decides that is her new approach. She will take on Brandon Brock of Finefoods, Inc. and make him into a more approachable boss. Of course, Lynn must first convince Brandon that he has a problem and that she is the person to solve it. She doesn't expect her new subject to be both aggravating and disturbingly attractive. Lynn has another problem, one that she is not even aware of: there is a saboteur in her life. Someone is doing their level best to destroy her. If she is ever going to get her life on track, Lynn has a lot of tough "communicating" to do. You can always count on Jane Heller to take a subject and turn it on its ear. This is a wonderfully witty and humorous book that pokes fun at the whole industry of male-female communication.
Publishers Weekly
2/26/2001
Why can't a woman be more like a man? Be careful what you ask for, as Lynn Wyman learns in Heller's (Sis Boom Bah; Name Dropping) rollicking new comedy, a sendup of female-centric pop therapy and alpha male behavior. Lynn is the linguist mastermind behind the Wyman Method, whereby manly men are taught the fine art of communicating in Womenspeak. Her husband, Kip, seems to be the poster spouse for what she preaches - he has lasagna on the table when she returns home, asks how her day was, cries at the drop of a hat. But then Lynn discovers he's been unfaithful, and her ensuing loss of credibility results in a sharp decline in her multimedia fortunes. What's a Wyman to do? Humbled by her error in judgment, Lynn remains committed to the Method and hatches a plan. Hunky but boorish Brandon Brock has just made Fortune's cover for a feature on "America's Toughest Bosses"; if Lynn can turn him into "America's Most Sensitive Boss," she figures she'll be back on top. How she goes about it, particularly once she realizes she's falling for him, is the stuff romantic comedies are made of. Good lines plus precision timing add up to a lot of laughs as the author trains her sense of cultural irony on the complex contradictions between what women say they want, what they think they want and what they really want. Heller has always been adept at devising clever premises, and this is no exception.
Chris Gilson
2/26/2001
Author of Crazy for Cornelia
Jane Heller is the most fun you can have with a dust jacket on. Once you read her hilarious, pacy, and wickedly-poignant Female Intelligence, you'll whisk Men Are from Mars, Women Are from Venus off your shelf and replace it with this delicious sendup of the fault line between men and women. The unexpected twists and turns soar through the meaning of love, friendship, betrayal, and what makes us worth saving. Female Intelligence will leave you convinced that both sexes would make up a lot sooner if they stopped jumping through hoops and took a fresh look at the wisdom of vive la difference.
Library Journal
2/5/2001
Linguist Dr. Lynn Wyman becomes a media celebrity and best-selling author by teaching men to speak to their spouses and female co-workers in 'Womenspeak.' She's flying high until she discovers that her husband (and prize pupil) is having an affair with another woman and their subsequent breakup hits the papers. How can a professional communicator justify such a major personal failure? Suddenly, there are no Good Morning America bookings for her. Not ready to concede defeat, Wyman sets her sights on the biggest male chauvinist boss in the business world, lines him up as a client, changes his behavior Pygmalion-style, and falls in love. But can she master 'Menspeak' well enough to tell him? This first-person narrative is a breeze to read, full of laughs, and solidly built upon an intricate, suspenseful plot. Heller (Sis Boom Bah) weaves messages about style, substance, and loyalty to oneself and one's friends into the humorous dialog. Enthusiastically recommended for public libraries.
Booklist
2/1/2001
Heller's novel takes its cues from Men Are from Mars, Women Are from Venus. Her heroine, Dr. Lynn Wyman, has developed a unique approach to repairing damaged male-female relationships. Unfortunately, her celebrated and lucrative program dive-bombs when news of her husband's infidelity is leaked to the tabloids. After months of scraping by and existing on iceberg lettuce, she devises a plan to snag America's Toughest Boss, Brandon Brock, as a client and restore her former reputation. Brandon proves resistant, but Lynn perseveres and ingratiates her way into his business acumen and his heart. His only request is that she not disclose to the press that he is her client. When once again her private life becomes public, Lynn woefully acknowledges that one of her best friends is betraying her. What's worse, Brandon assumes she's the one who betrayed him. Can Lynn and Brandon resolve this loss of trust?....Heller's style is witty and lighthearted, and her observations about men are dead-on and hilarious.
Kirkus Reviews
2/1/2001
The author of Name Dropping spins a feminist plot with a few decidedly retro twists. Gorgeous linguist Lynn Wyman teaches men how to communicate with women, and her methods get results. She's rich, famous, and married to a sensitive, caring, hunky carpenter who likes to chat about his feelings - but not only with her. Lynn throws hubby out after she picks up an extension phone and overhears his whispered conversation with a ladylove. She's crushed, but at least the whole world won't know her perfect mate has been fooling around. Then a tell-all article appears in a supermarket tabloid, and Lynn is furious. She assumes her soon-to-be-ex wrote it for revenge and for the money she's not about to give him. Her career is in jeopardy, until she accepts the professional challenge of a lifetime, egged on by four loyal girlfriends. America's Toughest Boss, Finefoods CEO Brandon Brock, has just made the cover of Fortune. But his multimillion-dollar company is losing prized female executives right and left because Brandon believes in speaking his mind. Full-speed-ahead-and-damn-the-torpedoes has always been his philosophy, and it's gotten him where he wants to go. Normally, Lynn wouldn't give someone this arrogant the time of day. True, he's handsome, sexy, and masterful, but those macho qualities don't interest her. Well, maybe they interest her just a teeny bit. In fact, she doesn't mind going out with him now and then to unbelievably expensive restaurants and being treated like a queen, even if he doesn't like her friends. Actually, Brandon seems to think that one of them wrote the article, and all hell breaks loose when Lynn finds out he's right. Entertaining.
As I write in the Acknowledgments of Female Intelligence, the novel was inspired by an incident that occurred in Jupiter, Florida, not far from where I live. My husband and I were leaving the local movie theatre when I spotted -- and then overheard -- another couple on their way toward the exit. The woman said to her husband, "Harry, what did you think of the movie?" He grunted. She said, "I asked you, what did you think of the movie?" He shrugged. She said, "Why can't you talk to me?" He said, "About what?"
I found their interaction both amusing and frustrating. Why? Because after all the Mars/Venus books, after all the magazine articles, after all the "Oprah" segments, women are still trying desperately to get the men in their lives to communicate with them, express their feelings, share. I thought, maybe women are just better at communication -- smarter, more intuitive, more intelligent -- and maybe I can have a good time writing a novel on the subject.
Before I knew it, I had typed up the outline of a story about a heroine who coaches men in the language of Womenspeak, enabling them to become more connected to the women in their lives. She's no ordinary sensitivity trainer, either. She's an academic -- a linguist named Lynn Wyman who teaches an insufferable alpha male named Brandon Brock how to speak like a lady and then falls in love with him. Yes, the story is reminiscent of the classic film "My Fair Lady," in which Rex Harrison, a linguist, teaches Audrey Hepburn how to speak like a lady and then falls in love with her. I suppose Female Intelligence is a modern-day twist on that tale -- sort of a "My Fair Man."
Mostly, the book is my way of poking fun at the different conversational styles employed by men and women. It's also my attempt to point out that women don't always communicate clearly and honestly with other women. If Female Intelligence has a moral, it's this: that we could all use a little sensitivity training now and then.
