Chambermaid by Saira Rao

Originally published in Time Out New York, July 25, 2007

The devil may wear Prada, but in Saira Rao’s comedic debut novel, she also wields a gavel. Narrated by a recent Columbia Law graduate who spends a hellish year working for a federal judge, Chambermaid aims to provide a behind-the-scenes look at the judicial system and “how great lawyers and great judges are made.” When protagonist Sheila Raj lands a coveted clerkship at a court of appeals in Philadelphia, she is thrilled to be one step closer to her dream job as a lawyer for the ACLU. But she is soon shocked to discover that her new boss, Helga Friedman, is more sadistic than honorable. The judge delights in humiliating her staff; before long, she even outlaws lunch breaks.

While Rao’s novel features some truly funny moments, the plot twists often feel forced and predictable. Even worse, the characters are too exaggerated to elicit any sympathy. Sheila’s ludicrous office-mates include a medievalist male secretary with a mullet and a snotty Harvard alum with a crystal-meth addiction. Too much ink is spent developing the interpersonal relationships among the clerks, resulting in the loss of potentially interesting legal insight. Had Rao kept the focus on the high-profile death-penalty case that Sheila is assigned to work on as opposed to the plodding romantic story line, Chambermaid might have amounted to more than jurisprudential chick lit. Given the number of law-school-rank and bar-exam jokes, the book will undoubtedly appeal to legal drones, but for most, it’s unlikely to stand out from other fluffy summer fare.