Dishing the Dirt: The Hidden Lives of House Cleaners - Softcover

Duerden, Nick

  • 3.47 out of 5 stars
    89 ratings by Goodreads
 
9781912454464: Dishing the Dirt: The Hidden Lives of House Cleaners

Synopsis

'Succeeds brilliantly in dismantling casual assumptions about the drudgery of cleaning – and about the kinds of people who do it for a living.' – THE GUARDIAN

'A jaw-dropping investigation' – THE BOOKSELLER

'A great book, well researched, funny and poignant. I loved it.' – KIT DE WAAL

Dishing the Dirt tells the jaw-dropping stories of London’s house cleaners for the very first time.

We hear from immigrants who clean suburban family homes to butlers who manage the homes of the super wealthy, and from joyful cleaners and entrepreneurs to escaped victims of human trafficking.

Then there are women who dust nude and male cleaners who have to fight off wandering hands. And the crime scene cleaners.

With the revelation of Maid by Stephanie Land and the cleaning tips of Mrs Hinch's Hinch Yourself HappyDishing the Dirt will turn all of your assumptions about cleaners upside down.


Table of Contents

Contents

Prologue: Clocking On

One: The Entrepreneur

Two: The Actress

Three: Slave Labour

Four: Midlife Crisis

Five: The Trade Unionist

Six: The Lesser-Spotted Male

Seven: The Cleaner Who Returned Home

Eight: The Crime Scene Cleaners

Nine: Cleaning for the Super-Rich

Ten: The Naked Cleaner

Eleven: Cleaning in Japanese

Twelve: The Modern Butler

Thirteen: The Listener

Fourteen: The Gay Cleaner

Epilogue: Clocking Off

Afterword

"synopsis" may belong to another edition of this title.

About the Author

Nick Duerden is a writer and journalist whose work has appeared in The Guardian, the Sunday Times, the Daily Telegraph, the i paper, and GQ. His books include Exit Stage Left, Get Well Soon: Adventures in Alternative Healthcare, A Life Less Lonely, and The Smallest Things. He lives in London with his wife and two daughters.

"About this title" may belong to another edition of this title.