Clean

A Novel

By: Alia Trabucco Zerán, Sophie Hughes - translator

Narrated by: Silvana Kane

Length: 11 hrs

Publisher's summary

INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER!

"A masterclass in suspense … Extraordinary."–Paula Hawkins

“Terrifying, explosive and exhilarating”–Katie Kitamura

From a global star and International Booker Prize finalist, a razor-sharp, unforgettable novel about a maid who’s seen too much and a family at a breaking point

A young girl has died and the family’s maid is being interrogated. She must tell the whole story before arriving at the girl’s death.

Estela came from the countryside, leaving her mother behind, to work for the señor and señora when their only child was born. They wanted a housemaid: “smart appearance, full time,” their ad said. She wanted to make enough money to support her mother and return home. For seven years, Estela cleaned their laundry, wiped their floors, made their meals, kept their secrets, witnessed their fights and frictions, raised their daughter. She heard the rats scrabbling in the ceiling, saw the looks the señor gave the señora; she knew about the poison in the cabinet, the gun, the daughter’s rebellion as she grew up, the mother’s coldness, the father’s distance. She saw it all.

After a series of shocking betrayals and revelations, Estela stops speaking, breaking her silence only now, to tell the story of how it all fell apart. Is this a story of revenge or a confession? Class warfare or a cautionary tale? Building tension with every moment, Clean is a gripping, incisive exploration of power, domesticity, and betrayal from an international star at the height of her powers.

©2024 Alia Trabucco Zerán (P)2024 Penguin Audio

Critic reviews

"Compelling, claustrophobic and irresistible, Clean is both a masterclass in suspense and a clear-eyed portrait of isolation and grief. Extraordinary."–Paula Hawkins, author of Blind Spot

“Alia Trabucco Zerán is a powerhouse. In CLEAN, she writes with deadly precision about class, power, privilege and family. The result is terrifying, explosive and exhilarating.”–Katie Kitamura, author of Intimacies

“What a spellbinding nightmare Alia Trabucco Zerán has written. A biting, addictive portrait of the rot ‘good families’ conceal.”–Fernanda Melchor, author of Hurricane Season