Clean

A Novel

Translated by Sophie Hughes
INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER!

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

“Terrifying, explosive and exhilarating” – Katie Kitamura

"A modern masterpiece." -LitHub

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 page, Clean is a gripping, incisive exploration of power, domesticity, and betrayal from an international star at the height of her powers.
Praise for Clean:

“Clean is the opposite of what readers will feel when they finish this. . .uncomfortable, fascinating, lovely, and affecting novel. . .Hughes' splendid translation assures it will resonate in many more places where people live with the alienation and superficiality of late-stage capitalism.”—Booklist, STARRED review
 
“Propulsive . . . bursting with intrigue.”Publishers Weekly

“A rich and compelling read…Uncomfortable and provocative, Clean is a chilling account of one woman’s struggle to find meaning in the menial, but also an indictment of a society’s overreliance on the unacknowledged exploitation of its domestic workers.”—The Financial Times

"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 The Girl on the Train and Into the Water

“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

"Clean is a mesmerizing shapeshifter—condemnation and love, both astonishingly true; griefstruck roar; and a mystery whose bewildering dimensions are impossible to look away from."—Megha Majumdar, author of A Burning
 
“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
Born in Chile, Alia Trabucco Zerán is the author of a nonfiction book, When Women Kill, and the novel The Remainder, which was a finalist for the International Booker Prize and has been translated into eight languages.
 
Sophie Hughes is the translator of more than twenty books. She has been nominated for the International Booker Prize four times.

About

INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER!

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

“Terrifying, explosive and exhilarating” – Katie Kitamura

"A modern masterpiece." -LitHub

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 page, Clean is a gripping, incisive exploration of power, domesticity, and betrayal from an international star at the height of her powers.

Reviews

Praise for Clean:

“Clean is the opposite of what readers will feel when they finish this. . .uncomfortable, fascinating, lovely, and affecting novel. . .Hughes' splendid translation assures it will resonate in many more places where people live with the alienation and superficiality of late-stage capitalism.”—Booklist, STARRED review
 
“Propulsive . . . bursting with intrigue.”Publishers Weekly

“A rich and compelling read…Uncomfortable and provocative, Clean is a chilling account of one woman’s struggle to find meaning in the menial, but also an indictment of a society’s overreliance on the unacknowledged exploitation of its domestic workers.”—The Financial Times

"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 The Girl on the Train and Into the Water

“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

"Clean is a mesmerizing shapeshifter—condemnation and love, both astonishingly true; griefstruck roar; and a mystery whose bewildering dimensions are impossible to look away from."—Megha Majumdar, author of A Burning
 
“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

Author

Born in Chile, Alia Trabucco Zerán is the author of a nonfiction book, When Women Kill, and the novel The Remainder, which was a finalist for the International Booker Prize and has been translated into eight languages.
 
Sophie Hughes is the translator of more than twenty books. She has been nominated for the International Booker Prize four times.