Solitaria

The first work of translation on the Alchemy list: a raw, propulsive novel about a mother and daughter who work as live-in maids for the rich, and the tragedy they unwittingly bear witness to.

Mabel has been staying in the Golden Plate—the most expensive building on the block, in an unnamed city in Brazil—for almost her entire life. Yet her presence there is merely tolerated: she inhabits a miniscule room with her mother, Eunice, who alongside Mabel provides round-the-clock attention and care for the wealthy family who lives there. As Mabel grows up, her dissatisfaction with the forced smallness of her life becomes difficult to bear, and she is driven to work towards new possibilities for herself.

Eunice does the best that… Keep Reading