Author Description

An honorable, aspiring attorney’s dream job becomes a dishonorable nightmare in this “funny and charming” debut (Gary Shteyngart, author of Lake Success). Sheila Raj is a recent graduate of Columbia Law School with high aspirations of working for the ACLU. When she lands a coveted year-long federal clerkship with legal goddess Judge Helga Friedman, she cannot help but think that her life is destined for jurisprudential greatness. But law school did not prepare Sheila for the sociopath who greets her on her first day, and pushes her to the brink of resignation. It’s only when she’s assigned to a high-profile death penalty case that Sheila realizes that to survive the year as Friedman’s chambermaid—not just her sanity, but actual lives will hang in the balance. Because Prada be damned, “the devil really wears a black robe” (Jill Kargman, author of Momzillas). “In the world of the federal judiciary, where judges are sacrosanct and impervious to criticism, Saira Rao’s deliciously controversial debut novel ranks with mooning the Supreme Court” (The Philadelphia Inquirer). Delivering an outrageous peek into hallowed halls, the “laugh out loud... Chambermaid is sure to strike a familiar chord for anyone who’s ever had a jerk for a boss” (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette).