Who Rescued Who by Victoria Schade

Who Rescued Who. Victoria Schade. Penguin Publishing Group. March 2020. pb, 352 pp.; ISBN #: 9780593098837.

Elizabeth, aka Bess, gets fired from her high tech Silicon Valley job at Dutchess Games.  It also seems that she knows something about the top woman of her former social media company that said much about the bad nature of the product they were selling. For now, Elizabeth is overwhelmed and is taking a short trip to England to visit her father’s relatives.  These are not people she even knew were alive before now; however, it turns out she has inherited a piece of property.  It seems vague and complicated but she will find out the answers to the dozen questions she has.

Imagine her head in a whirlwind when she meets her Uncle, her father’s brother, who lives on lovely land and has amazing neighbors in Fargrove, UK.  Her father and Uncle parted over loving the same woman.  Uncle Rowan is an extremely talented artist as well as a sheep owner.  His wife Trudy is a warm, dynamic woman who is both understanding about the past and enthusiastic about the future.

Little by little Elizabeth becomes friendly with a beekeeper, a coffee shop owner, a brewery owner, and several gallery owners.  All are very dedicated to their business but unlike Elizabeth’s former colleagues are warm and inviting people who don’t put business over people. 

So who needs rescuing? It’s obviously Elizabeth or Bess and this is her story or her journey to discover what part of her past has meaning and what is just a way to push away what she can’t face from that past. Along the way she rescues a black and white puppy and loves her Uncle’s collie, dogs who are yearning for the same escape from loneliness and yearning for permanent, loving connection.  Pages and pages of beautiful descriptions demonstrate the delightful antics of these dogs who teach Elizabeth about the nature of true love. Could Fargrove be a similar end or the new beginning of a life for the rescuer of these charming canine friends?

The author uses this story to emphasize the depths of true love, friendship, trust, loyalty, and community.  This is contemporary fiction par excellence which is highly recommended warm, engaging and transformative fiction that promises to make readers cry and laugh out loud!  You won’t want it to end!