AustLit

'There’s something stimulating about seeing into other people’s houses. We’ve all glanced through an open window or door as we pass by on our walks. Seen the old retriever slumped in the doorway, the clutter, the gaudy furniture, the bad renovations; it’s always just a quick glance. It’s no surprise but still uncanny that we live so close together, on top of each other, separated by thin walls and floors, and yet, what goes on in the interiors of our fellow suburbanites’ houses remains mostly a secret. Imagine you were a working-class mother who regularly cleaned these houses. What stories would you tell yourself about the inhabitants as you fluffed up their cushions and scrubbed at their skid marks?' (Introduction) 

'In her visceral, compassionate 2017 biography The Trauma Cleaner, Sarah Krasnostein prodded open doors we prefer to keep shut. She detailed the life and work of Sandra Pankhurst, founder of Specialised Trauma Cleaning Services. Cleaner and biographer scattered the rats, toppled the piles of hoarded newspapers and found the bodies of people who died alone.'  (Introduction)