My Cleaner

Author:   Maggie Gee
Publisher:   Saqi Books
ISBN:  

9780863565441


Pages:   318
Publication Date:   10 August 2005
Format:   Paperback
Availability:   In Print   Availability explained
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My Cleaner


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Overview

My cleaner. She does my dirty work. She knows more about me than anyone else in the world. But does she, in fact, like me? Does her presence fill me with shame? Ugandan Mary Tendo worked for many years in the white middle-class Henman household in London, cleaning for Vanessa and looking after her only child, Justin. More than ten years after Mary has left, Justin - now twenty-two, handsome and gifted - is too depressed to get out of bed. To his mother's surprise, he asks for Mary. When Mary responds to Vanessa's cry for help and returns from Uganda to look after Justin, the balance of power in the house shifts dramatically. Both women's lives change irrevocably as tensions build towards a startling climax on a snowbound motorway. Maggie Gee confronts racism and class conflict with humour and tenderness in this moving, funny, engrossing read.

Full Product Details

Author:   Maggie Gee
Publisher:   Saqi Books
Imprint:   Saqi Books
ISBN:  

9780863565441


ISBN 10:   0863565441
Pages:   318
Publication Date:   10 August 2005
Audience:   General/trade ,  General
Format:   Paperback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   In Print   Availability explained
This item will be ordered in for you from one of our suppliers. Upon receipt, we will promptly dispatch it out to you. For in store availability, please contact us.

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Reviews

'This beautifully observed, intelligent and moving novel is one of those rare things - a small, carefully wrapped surprise that gets better and better with the unravelling.' The Scotsman 'Maggie Gee is a superb and pitiless analyser of middle-class angst. Elegant, humorous and surprising, this is a classy performance.' The Times 'My Cleaner is a moving, funny, engrossing book.' The Observer 'My Cleaner is a calmer, happier novel [than The Flood]. Yet a gnawing tragedy lies in the shadows, all the more poignant for the deftness with which it's brushed aside.' The Independent 'It's amazing how many details, characters, stories within stories, Maggie Gee's unquenchable exuberance crams into this comparatively short book.' The Spectator 'An intelligent and satisfying read.' The Sunday Times 'A smart satire on a subject central to most women's lives ... we either keep our houses clean, or pay someone else to do it. It's a queasy thought ... and [one] you will never brush casually aside again after reading My Cleaner.' Daily Telegraph 'Gee satirises the liberal conscience of the chattering classes with uncomfortable perception in this hugely enjoyable novel ... her portrayal of Britain's new underclass of immigrant workers is presented with her trademark stinging clarity.' Metro Praise for Maggie Gee: 'Gripping, original and highly entertaining - Maggie Gee at her superb best.' J G Ballard 'Dazzling ... alternately lyrical and austere ... unbearably touching.' The Observer 'Compulsively readable.' Guardian '... a rare writer who is willing to address issues topical to contemporary Britain.' Daily Telegraph


Author Information

Maggie Gee was chosen as one of Granta's 'Best Young British Novelists' in 1983. Since then she has published nine novels to great acclaim, including Grace, The Ice People and The White Family, which was shortlisted for the 2002 Orange Prize for Fiction and for the International Impac Dublin Literary Award 2004. Her last novel, The Flood, was longlisted for the 2004 Orange Prize. She is the first female Chair of the Royal Society of Literature and lives in London.

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