Publisher's Synopsis
A Cleaning Woman traces the complexities of desire through the sensitive, sensual observations of a man in the thrall of ecstasy. As a long-standing relationship ends, Jacques finds himself irresistibly drawn to the leaflets advertising the cleaning services of an anonymous woman identified only by her initials. Once he learns her name, and the details of her affairs, he enters into an erotic relationship that challenges the class taboos that stand between them. This novel offers the unique perspective of a heartbroken man desperately infatuated with a woman he has just met. We hear his wistful appreciation of her every tuft of hair and catch each dust mote that hovers over them. Meanwhile, the narrator's possessive gaze blinds his ability to see himself at all. His dryness teases the reader into believing in his modesty, while we see him hilariously exposed when the story unravels around him. Christian Oster's polished style and his perfect control of point-of-view guide his reader through the psychological realism of obsession and desire. The honesty of emotion in this novel is matched only by its subversive intent.
