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My Cleaner
"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 engrossing read.
Maggie Gee was chosen as one of Granta's original 'Best Young British Novelists'. She has published many novels to great acclaim, including The White Family, which was shortlisted for the 2002 Orange Prize for Fiction and for the International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award 2004; and The Flood, which was longlisted for the 2004 Orange Prize. She has also published My Cleaner, My Driver, The Ice People and My Animal Life with Telegram. Virginia Woolf in Manhattan is her latest novel.
Maggie was the first female Chair of the Royal Society of Literature, 2004-2008, and is now one of its Vice-Presidents. She lives in London.
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 engrossing read.
Maggie Gee was chosen as one of Granta's original 'Best Young British Novelists'. She has published many novels to great acclaim, including The White Family, which was shortlisted for the 2002 Orange Prize for Fiction and for the International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award 2004; and The Flood, which was longlisted for the 2004 Orange Prize. She has also published My Cleaner, My Driver, The Ice People and My Animal Life with Telegram. Virginia Woolf in Manhattan is her latest novel.
Maggie was the first female Chair of the Royal Society of Literature, 2004-2008, and is now one of its Vice-Presidents. She lives in London.
352 pages, Paperback
First published August 25, 2005
21 people are currently reading
333 people want to read
About the author
Maggie Gee
39 books52 followersMaggie Gee is an English novelist. She was born in Poole, Dorset, then moved to the Midlands and later to Sussex. She was educated at state schools and at Oxford University (MA, B Litt). She later worked in publishing and then had a research post at Wolverhampton Polytechnic where she completed the department's first PhD. She has written eleven novels and a collection of short stories, and was the first female Chair of the Royal Society of Literature, 2004-2008. She is now one of the Vice-Presidents of the RSL and Visiting Professor of Creative Writing at Sheffield Hallam University. She has also served on the Society of Authors' management committee and the government's Public Lending Right committee. Her seventh novel, The White Family, was shortlisted for the 2003 Orange Prize and the International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award.
She writes in a broadly modernist tradition, in that her books have a strong overall sense of pattern and meaning, but her writing is characterised by political and social awareness. She turns a satirical eye on contemporary society but is affectionate towards her characters and has an unironised sense of the beauty of the natural world. Her human beings are biological as well as social creatures, partly because of the influence of science and in particular evolutionary biology on her thinking. Where are The Snows, The Ice People and The Flood have all dealt with the near or distant future. She writes through male characters as often as she does through female characters.
The individual human concerns that her stories address include the difficulties of resolving the conflict between total unselfishness, which often leads to secret unhappiness and resentment against the beneficiaries, and selfishness, which can lead to the unhappiness of others, particularly of children. This is a typical quandary of late-20th and early-21st-century women, but it is also a concern for privileged, wealthy, long-lived western human beings as a whole, and widens into global concerns about wealth and poverty and climate change. Her books also explore how the human species relates to non-human animals and to the natural world as a whole. Two of her books, The White Family and My Cleaner, have had racism as a central theme, dealt with as a tragedy in The White Family but as a comedy in My Cleaner. She is currently writing a memoir called My Animal Life. In 2009 she published "My Driver", a second novel with many of the same characters as My Cleaner, but this time set in Uganda during a time of tension with neighbouring DRC Congo.
Maggie Gee lives in London with her husband, the writer and broadcaster Nicholas Rankin, an author, and their daughter Rosa.
She writes in a broadly modernist tradition, in that her books have a strong overall sense of pattern and meaning, but her writing is characterised by political and social awareness. She turns a satirical eye on contemporary society but is affectionate towards her characters and has an unironised sense of the beauty of the natural world. Her human beings are biological as well as social creatures, partly because of the influence of science and in particular evolutionary biology on her thinking. Where are The Snows, The Ice People and The Flood have all dealt with the near or distant future. She writes through male characters as often as she does through female characters.
The individual human concerns that her stories address include the difficulties of resolving the conflict between total unselfishness, which often leads to secret unhappiness and resentment against the beneficiaries, and selfishness, which can lead to the unhappiness of others, particularly of children. This is a typical quandary of late-20th and early-21st-century women, but it is also a concern for privileged, wealthy, long-lived western human beings as a whole, and widens into global concerns about wealth and poverty and climate change. Her books also explore how the human species relates to non-human animals and to the natural world as a whole. Two of her books, The White Family and My Cleaner, have had racism as a central theme, dealt with as a tragedy in The White Family but as a comedy in My Cleaner. She is currently writing a memoir called My Animal Life. In 2009 she published "My Driver", a second novel with many of the same characters as My Cleaner, but this time set in Uganda during a time of tension with neighbouring DRC Congo.
Maggie Gee lives in London with her husband, the writer and broadcaster Nicholas Rankin, an author, and their daughter Rosa.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 52 reviews
January 15, 2020
Mary, the bubbly, life-affirming, vivacious, Ex-cleaner flies in from Uganda and breathes life back into the old, stuffy, big house of the Henmans. She is a force of nature and brings some love and common sense with her.
Then slowly her always positive facade starts to crackle and we find out her sorrows and mishaps. Not everything in her life is actually as perfect as she made us believe at first.
Vanessa, her employer, whom she lives with, is a cold woman, not able to show love and focussed on achievements, which has shattered her only son Justin.
Until, yes until, Mary and Vanessa are going to Vanessa’s village. And then we realise Vanessa is lonely. Her mother was a loonie, her father a nutter and she was bullied in school. She always wanted to prove herself with her achievements, going to Cambridge, big house, big car. From then on I could see myself in the Henman. It was me (partly).
From this point I started to have mixed feelings about Mary. Her always being positive and her total lack of empathy or even interest in what Vanessa had gone through. (I am obviously biased from this point onwards)
But this goes for both women. Vanessa never once asks about Mary’s son, her ex-husband, her life in Kampala. And Justin never does either, that spoilt son who is going to have a very very steep learning curve.
And so they go on, even living together, not knowing anything about the other person. Yes, like real life!
Then slowly her always positive facade starts to crackle and we find out her sorrows and mishaps. Not everything in her life is actually as perfect as she made us believe at first.
Vanessa, her employer, whom she lives with, is a cold woman, not able to show love and focussed on achievements, which has shattered her only son Justin.
Until, yes until, Mary and Vanessa are going to Vanessa’s village. And then we realise Vanessa is lonely. Her mother was a loonie, her father a nutter and she was bullied in school. She always wanted to prove herself with her achievements, going to Cambridge, big house, big car. From then on I could see myself in the Henman. It was me (partly).
From this point I started to have mixed feelings about Mary. Her always being positive and her total lack of empathy or even interest in what Vanessa had gone through. (I am obviously biased from this point onwards)
But this goes for both women. Vanessa never once asks about Mary’s son, her ex-husband, her life in Kampala. And Justin never does either, that spoilt son who is going to have a very very steep learning curve.
And so they go on, even living together, not knowing anything about the other person. Yes, like real life!
November 14, 2020
Одна мамаша "я-сама-всего-добилась" до такой степени загнобила своего 20-летнего сына, что у того началась жесточайшая депрессия. Причём сделала Ванесса это в такой момент, когда Джастину вместо ее нравоучений гораздо больше пригодились бы помощь и поддержка. Теперь он не выходит из своей комнаты, не одевается (вообще не одевается)), всё время спит и врачи уже опустили руки и не знают, чем же это вылечить. Мать готова хоть наизнанку вывернуться, но сын уверен, что ему ничего и никто не сможет помочь. Ну, разве что Мэри.
Мэри живёт в Кампале, столице Уганды. Сейчас она главная кастелянша в одном из крупнейших отелей. Когда Джастину было 3 года, она жила и училась в Лондоне и подрабатывала уборщицей, а потом и няней Джастина. Т.к. его родители были в разводе, а матери всегда было не до ребенка, то Мэри стала для мальчика самым близким человеком. И вот, спустя много лет, Ванесса просит Мэри помочь Джастину, и Мэри соглашается, потому что любит его, а ещё ей очень-очень нужны деньги для собственного сына.
Для жанра "чиклит" - обалденная книга. Настолько интересно показан контраст между двумя женщинами, двумя странами, двумя религиями и отношением к жизни вообще, что просто невозможно оторваться. Как Мэри дрессирует свою работодательницу, как возвращает Джастина к нормальной жизни и сближает всю их семью -многим доморощенным психологам стоило бы у нее поучиться.
Балл сняла только за невнятную концовку. В остальном - рекомендую.
Мэри живёт в Кампале, столице Уганды. Сейчас она главная кастелянша в одном из крупнейших отелей. Когда Джастину было 3 года, она жила и училась в Лондоне и подрабатывала уборщицей, а потом и няней Джастина. Т.к. его родители были в разводе, а матери всегда было не до ребенка, то Мэри стала для мальчика самым близким человеком. И вот, спустя много лет, Ванесса просит Мэри помочь Джастину, и Мэри соглашается, потому что любит его, а ещё ей очень-очень нужны деньги для собственного сына.
Для жанра "чиклит" - обалденная книга. Настолько интересно показан контраст между двумя женщинами, двумя странами, двумя религиями и отношением к жизни вообще, что просто невозможно оторваться. Как Мэри дрессирует свою работодательницу, как возвращает Джастина к нормальной жизни и сближает всю их семью -многим доморощенным психологам стоило бы у нее поучиться.
Балл сняла только за невнятную концовку. В остальном - рекомендую.
March 12, 2013
I enjoyed this. I especially enjoyed that the writer did not give in to the temptation, if temptation there was, to clear up the myriad misunderstandings and complete lack of real empathy between the characters. They knew each other and yet knew nothing of the other. Vanessa has no insight into herself. There are tremors where a breakthrough seems possible but She is 'strong' and manages to deflect, ignore or distract herself when reality starts to creep in. And Mary, much more grounded as she is, can fail absolutely to understand what might be happening to Vanessa. A classic example of this is the scene when Vanessa is attacked in her study by a student and Mary thinks he is after her money. At no time does either woman realize the story behind the others experience and reaction. Funny and sad.
And yet, as in life, they manage to move on with the mountain of misunderstandings and resentments always pushed out of the way. For the time being.
And yet, as in life, they manage to move on with the mountain of misunderstandings and resentments always pushed out of the way. For the time being.
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March 10, 2018Çok güzel... Kimin hikayesiydi anlatılan? Neden bu kadar tanıdık... Yaratıcı yazarlık atölyesinden fırlamış gibi yazılmış ve üstelik kapağı kafamın tasını attırmış olsa da arkadaş bildiğim karakterlerini özleyeceğim....
March 14, 2021
Enjoyable book, showing the complex circumstances of two women, both mothers, one African one English, and the cultural assumptions and difficulties associated with their relationship, complicated by the power dynamic suggested in the title.
September 8, 2021
Thoroughly enjoyed this! The characters are all so flawed but not unlikeable, which made them seem so real.
June 17, 2019
Despite the fact that I didn't like any of the characters, I enjoyed this book. It reminded me of The Help wit the cultural differences make an appealing dynamic.
September 10, 2022
A moving, funny, engaging read, with strong female lead characters highlighting clashing cultural perspectives.
February 17, 2014
A very easy, fast read, this book lives and breathes for its Ugandan character, Mary Tendo. Having lived and worked in London (and other cities and countries), she starts the novel back in Uganda, settled and in charge of a linen room in a hotel. A letter arrives, offering her a job if she returns to London, where the now-adult son of the woman whose cleaner/nanny she had been, many years earlier, has suffered a mental breakdown. She's asked to return, to help him heal.
Mary Tendo is the momentum and the heart and soul of this novel. The other characters are... dubious. Vanessa Henman, her employer, is reprehensible to the point of caricature. Hypocritical, self-absorbed, egocentric, racist, controlling, arrogant, bitter and petty with a self-image that is self-sacrificing, equanimous, tolerant, generous... basically, a vile person who thinks very highly of herself. Her son is a messed up crybaby who love-hates his mother, and the way his breakdown is portrayed feels about as inauthentic as it could possibly be. He is portrayed as so dysfunctional that it is not credible he could ever have been functional. The ex-husband is Mr Nice, the creative writing students are screaming cliches... basically, aside from Mary Tendo, all characters are cardboard, and none of them convincing.
It is a little odd, like reading an animated movie with one human character in it (like Space Jam or Song of the South), where the one human character is a Ugandan black woman, and she's stuck in a posh cartoon Britain.
The story tries to preserve its universality by only naming big things: London, Uganda, Kampala. Mary and Vanessa both hail from villages, which remain unnamed, sketched in only the vaguest terms (leading to a weird awkwardness when Vanessa's home village is visited, and it keeps being referred to as 'the village' while all the big cities were named). There are mobile phones in the book, but other than that it seems to have been written out of time - is it set in the 1990s, 2000s? People write letters; there appears to be no internet, or it is unimportant and no part of people's lives. Maybe the book is set in the second half of the 1990s, when laptops and mobiles co-existed without the web being the be-all and end-all of communications.
Sometimes, the book does not quite follow its own logic: someone working hard and saving up £3000 for lots of blood, sweat and tears is unlikely to let her boyfriend fly over from Uganda (which presumably would cost £600-800 or so).
The book also seems oddly inconsistent: sometimes it's told in third person, close to either Mary or Vanessa. Sometimes it's in first person. Some scenes drift close to one viewpoint character after another.
Basically, this is a book with a colourful, three dimensional main character, stuck in a two-dimensional world with clunky writery craftsmanship around the edges.
It's brisk and entertaining, but not terribly rewarding or enjoyable to read. (The British characters sap all the joy from it...)
Mary Tendo is the momentum and the heart and soul of this novel. The other characters are... dubious. Vanessa Henman, her employer, is reprehensible to the point of caricature. Hypocritical, self-absorbed, egocentric, racist, controlling, arrogant, bitter and petty with a self-image that is self-sacrificing, equanimous, tolerant, generous... basically, a vile person who thinks very highly of herself. Her son is a messed up crybaby who love-hates his mother, and the way his breakdown is portrayed feels about as inauthentic as it could possibly be. He is portrayed as so dysfunctional that it is not credible he could ever have been functional. The ex-husband is Mr Nice, the creative writing students are screaming cliches... basically, aside from Mary Tendo, all characters are cardboard, and none of them convincing.
It is a little odd, like reading an animated movie with one human character in it (like Space Jam or Song of the South), where the one human character is a Ugandan black woman, and she's stuck in a posh cartoon Britain.
The story tries to preserve its universality by only naming big things: London, Uganda, Kampala. Mary and Vanessa both hail from villages, which remain unnamed, sketched in only the vaguest terms (leading to a weird awkwardness when Vanessa's home village is visited, and it keeps being referred to as 'the village' while all the big cities were named). There are mobile phones in the book, but other than that it seems to have been written out of time - is it set in the 1990s, 2000s? People write letters; there appears to be no internet, or it is unimportant and no part of people's lives. Maybe the book is set in the second half of the 1990s, when laptops and mobiles co-existed without the web being the be-all and end-all of communications.
Sometimes, the book does not quite follow its own logic: someone working hard and saving up £3000 for lots of blood, sweat and tears is unlikely to let her boyfriend fly over from Uganda (which presumably would cost £600-800 or so).
The book also seems oddly inconsistent: sometimes it's told in third person, close to either Mary or Vanessa. Sometimes it's in first person. Some scenes drift close to one viewpoint character after another.
Basically, this is a book with a colourful, three dimensional main character, stuck in a two-dimensional world with clunky writery craftsmanship around the edges.
It's brisk and entertaining, but not terribly rewarding or enjoyable to read. (The British characters sap all the joy from it...)
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June 1, 2014Another Kindle Daily Deal, and one that really didn't work for me - in fact, I gave up not even half way through. My main gripe, which seems to have been my consistent gripe over a few books recently, is that I found all of the protagonists either tedious or unlikeable. I didn't hate them, but I really couldn't have cared less what happened to them, and to be honest, I found Mary's constant 'I'll tell you about my son, but it's too awful so I won't tell you yet' had the opposite effect of wanting to make me keep reading.
There was quite a mix of styles, varying points of view, and swapping between first and third person. I liked this at first, but then I began to see it as too much of a device, and not enough of a 'letting me in' to the protagonists heads. I've seen lots of other reviewers say that this was funny, but again, I found the humour contrived, and frankly in places it made me cringe a bit, it verged on the patronising - especially when it came to portraying Mary's blend of naivety and shrewdness. And As for her employer - too much of a charicature for me.
Did I read this completely wrongly? Was it me who had the sense of humour by-pass when I was reading this? It's possible. Once again, as in recent reviews, I seem to be in the minority. I think I might stop taking risks on KDDs for a while though.
There was quite a mix of styles, varying points of view, and swapping between first and third person. I liked this at first, but then I began to see it as too much of a device, and not enough of a 'letting me in' to the protagonists heads. I've seen lots of other reviewers say that this was funny, but again, I found the humour contrived, and frankly in places it made me cringe a bit, it verged on the patronising - especially when it came to portraying Mary's blend of naivety and shrewdness. And As for her employer - too much of a charicature for me.
Did I read this completely wrongly? Was it me who had the sense of humour by-pass when I was reading this? It's possible. Once again, as in recent reviews, I seem to be in the minority. I think I might stop taking risks on KDDs for a while though.
January 24, 2013
Love this book! I traveled London via Uganda via the irrepressible Mary Tendo, a character I will long remember. The central theme is the use and abuse of Mary as cheap labor; however, Mary has a few failings of her own. She is no innocent victim. She and her employer, Vanessa, have a tense, competitive relationship regarding everything from the men in their lives to their work. Yet there's more! Just when it feels lightweight and wickedly humorous, it weaves into really heavy stuff. All the characters and locations are depicted colorfully. Definitely reading more of Maggie Gee.
January 5, 2015
A complex though light novel. The characters are well drawn and Maggie Gee writes sympathetically about all of them, even though most of them do not come across as particularly nice people to know! And it is certainly about time that a good book has been written about the relationship between someone in England and a cleaner who has travelled from the developing world to work in the UK. I also recommend the sequel, My Driver.
September 6, 2012
Enjoyable humorous story of miscommunication, prejudice and family life seen from the points of view of neurotic middle-aged, middle-class Vanessa and her outgoing, earthy Ugandan ex-cleaner Mary.
The two woman are completely different and yet we are led to realise they have much in common.
A good read, although I expected more of a climactic ending.
The two woman are completely different and yet we are led to realise they have much in common.
A good read, although I expected more of a climactic ending.
April 29, 2014
I really enjoyed this book. Brilliant characters especially Mary Tendo. I love the different cultural or personal assumptions each makes about the others and the fact that they all have their own flaws. The descriptions of Ugandan life were vivid and interesting. I shall definitely recommend this one.
May 13, 2009
Really enjoyed this. Funny and light hearted but with complicated relationships and really well written rounded characters. Can't wait to read 'My Driver' by the same author
July 6, 2014
I enjoyed this enormously - great characters and a nice combination of amusing and thought provoking.
June 8, 2014
I really enjoyed this novel. It combines some interesting, entertaining characters with some biting comments on social niceties. I'd recommend it to pretty much everyone I know who likes reading...
February 9, 2017
Bought as a Kindle Daily Deal, this is story of one-time nanny and cleaner Ugandan Mary Tendo. At age 38 she returns to to England, after a gap of 10 years or so, to care for the now grown-up Justin Henman.
The background descriptions of Uganda (of which I knew nothing beforehand) are interesting and the author starkly and cleverly contrasts the two cultures. Bizarrely there's a single mention of Donald Trump in the middle of the book (purely as an example of a mega-rich man, the book was first published in 2005). Other "celebrities" such as Idi Amin (who Mary says "was a terrible man, but also very funny"), Queen Elizabeth and Ernest Hemingway also get brief mentions.
I didn't really warm to any of the characters. If I had to pick a favourite, I suppose it would be Mary or possibly Tigger (Justin's absent father, Trevor). Mary's employer, Vanessa Henman, is quite hideous but you can't help feeling sorry for her.
It's probably down to my poor sense of humour but I found little to amuse me. The relationships between Mary and Justin, and indeed Justin and his mother, appeared distasteful to me.
The ending has a little 'surprise' which I'd already guessed from the clues scattered down earlier. Although I'd question the timings involved to make the 'surprise' work!
A frustrating but strangely compulsive read that took me ages to get into and almost as long to get out the other end! I do feel as if I should give Maggie Gee another go though - will keep an eye out for her in the KDDs!
The background descriptions of Uganda (of which I knew nothing beforehand) are interesting and the author starkly and cleverly contrasts the two cultures. Bizarrely there's a single mention of Donald Trump in the middle of the book (purely as an example of a mega-rich man, the book was first published in 2005). Other "celebrities" such as Idi Amin (who Mary says "was a terrible man, but also very funny"), Queen Elizabeth and Ernest Hemingway also get brief mentions.
I didn't really warm to any of the characters. If I had to pick a favourite, I suppose it would be Mary or possibly Tigger (Justin's absent father, Trevor). Mary's employer, Vanessa Henman, is quite hideous but you can't help feeling sorry for her.
It's probably down to my poor sense of humour but I found little to amuse me. The relationships between Mary and Justin, and indeed Justin and his mother, appeared distasteful to me.
The ending has a little 'surprise' which I'd already guessed from the clues scattered down earlier. Although I'd question the timings involved to make the 'surprise' work!
A frustrating but strangely compulsive read that took me ages to get into and almost as long to get out the other end! I do feel as if I should give Maggie Gee another go though - will keep an eye out for her in the KDDs!
June 3, 2021
Vanessa, a middle-class single mother of a 22 year old ‘child’ reaches out to her former cleaner from Uganda: Mary Tendo. Vanessa needs help with coaxing her only child out of a depression which leaves him sloth-like and dependable and only Mary will do. She hops on a plane and arrives in London to resume her duties in the Henman household. Not as a cleaner though! She becomes chief cook, memoir-writer, and wet-nurse to the said man-child, Justin. It put me in mind of the Little Britain character (a grown man still needing to suckle) wanting ‘bitty’. Fully nourished, Justin emerges from his torpor to become a real man. Funny in places, squirm-inducing in others but always, with Maggie Gee, expertly written and thought-provoking.
August 7, 2021
Maggie Gee does not receive the recognition she deserves. She is a classy writer of great skill and this is a fabulous novel. Intelligent, insightful and funny. The two female characters are deliciously contrasted. Mary Tenda, Ugandan housekeeper and her uptight employer, Vanessa Henman, both mothers of young sons with their own tragedies to bear. When they are reunited ten years later, the tables are turned and Maggie Gee explores the power shift in the dynamic between them beautifully. Highly recommend this. And if you enjoy it, consider Kate Clanchy's Antigona and Me, which also explores the relationship between a British woman and her cleaner and the political minefield therein.
January 29, 2025
Se me hizo un poco tedioso, tal vez porque no sea el estilo de historia a la que estoy acostumbrada. Aún así, me pareció interesante y por eso lo continué leyendo. Hubo ciertas descripciones que me parecieron demás, especialmente sobre Justin y la relación que tenía con Mary. El momento más interesante debió haber sido cuando Justin se decide a manejar cuando Mary lo deja solo, y luego vuelven juntos a Londres. Allí fue cuando sentí el desarollo de personaje de Justin (quien nunca fue un niño, pero se lo infantilizó hasta el último momento). De Vanessa, por otro lado, no pienso que haya cambiado mucho, igual me dio pena que no le hayan contado nada sobre su nieto.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 8, 2024
A funny perceptive story of a self obsessed woman in London Vanessa and her Ugandan excleaner Mary Tendo who was persuaded to return to London to care for Vanessa’s ill son. The roles are reversed and long running lack of understandings gradually revealed, also personal losses and backstory. Good. First I’ve read by Maggie Gee.
February 2, 2019
Sad to say I wasn’t a huge fan of this one. There was only one scene that really grabbed me where Mary throws Derrick out of the house.
I feel like whilst there were many cultural comparisons the book just didn’t really resonate with me.
I feel like whilst there were many cultural comparisons the book just didn’t really resonate with me.
July 7, 2018
Um livro que não me prendeu, por vezes gera até tédio.
Algo de surreal, algo de paranóico, não é o meu estilo de leitura, definitivamente.
Foi difícil ir em frente mas consegui chegar ao fim.
Algo de surreal, algo de paranóico, não é o meu estilo de leitura, definitivamente.
Foi difícil ir em frente mas consegui chegar ao fim.
May 17, 2020
A light and interesting read
The book is an interesting perspective from the points of view of the protagonist and the cleaner. Well thought out.
The book is an interesting perspective from the points of view of the protagonist and the cleaner. Well thought out.
August 25, 2021
Fascinante historia de las vidas de dos mujeres bien diferentes.
February 18, 2022
Is this supposed to be funny? It’s certainly supposed to be a satire; but to say it’s laid on with a trowel is an insult to the subtleties of trowellists. This is satire laid on with a mattock.
November 11, 2022
Characters little more than stereotypes. A bit dull.
May 29, 2024
Very engaging domestic drama with complex female characters. I found the switching between first- and third-person points of view a bit messy, but you get used to it.
April 8, 2021
A first read from Maggie Gee for me. Very impressed with the way that she so skilfully writes with what seems to be such an authentic voice which isn't her natural one.
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