Book Review: Rachel to the Rescue by Elinor Lipman

Rachel to the Rescue by Elinor Lipman
Publisher: Harper Paperbacks
Publication Date: July 13, 2021
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Publisher’s Description:

Rachel Klein is sacked from her job at the White House after she sends an email criticizing Donald Trump. As she is escorted off the premises she is hit by a speeding car, driven by what the press will discreetly call “a personal friend of the President.” Does that explain the flowers, the get-well wishes at a press briefing, the hush money offered by a lawyer at her hospital bedside? Rachel’s recovery is soothed by comically doting parents, matchmaking room-mates, a new job as aide to a journalist whose books aim to defame the President, and unexpected love at the local wine store. But secrets leak, and Rachel’s new-found happiness has to make room for more than a little chaos. Will she bring down the President? Or will he manage to do that all by himself? 

I picked up Rachel to the Rescue because I was looking for something light and cheerful. (Also, it has Rachel in the title!)  Luckily, this hit the spot. Rachel Klein has a job at the Trump White House taping together all of the documents that the president rips up after he reads them. One drunken night, she accidentally replies all to an office-wide email in which she criticizes Trump and his ilk. She is promptly fired the next morning. As she is leaving the office on foot, she’s run over by a car and wakes up later in the hospital.

When Rachel finds out who ran her over, that opens up a whole can of worms that could involve the president. She takes a new job working for a muckraking journalist who mainly hired her for the dirt on Trump. She tries her best to stay above the fray but it’s not always possible. Meanwhile, her personal life is actually going pretty well – her roommates set her up with a great guy and she has very loving parents.

I found this book to be charming. I liked that there wasn’t too much drama, apart from Rachel trying to figure out who ran her over and why. She and her boyfriend never fought – it was nice. As far as romance goes, it’s extremely chaste. That may be good or bad depending on how steamy you like your books. Also, it takes down Trump in many ways so if you’re a fan of his, you definitely won’t like this book. I personally thought it was really funny. Recommended.

(I received a complimentary copy of this book for review.)