Sol just wants to be a housewife and keep her flat spotless. But her bourgeois family, her tattooed friends, her patronizing husband, and a whole progressive society see this choice as backwards. When she hires two Latina women to help clean her flat, Sol spirals into intrusive thoughts she can’t shake. Until she finally discovers what it truly means to be free. A sharp social satire, subtly humorous, with an unforgettable voice.
If Sol could do just one thing in her life, it would be cleaning. And she knows it—even if she finds it a bit embarrassing.
She’s just lost her job as an assistant in a painter’s studio in Madrid. But that’s not such a bad thing: finally, she can focus on being a full-time housewife. In the afternoons, she waits for her boyfriend to come home from his job as a film chauffeur and tell her which celebrity he drove that day. Sol can’t stand how enthusiastic he is about his job, while her family hangs on every word of the “star driver’s” stories. She’s lucky to have him—without him, she’d be a mess.
Sol feels like the whole world wants to change her: her progressive family, her husband, the hipster neighbors downstairs, even random strangers. She’s obsessed with how others see her. Everyone seems more “modern” than she is.
To escape their judgment, Sol comes up with little tricks to appear more independent. Like going out alone in the afternoon so her husband won’t find her at home when he gets back. Spoiler: she almost never manages to do it. And that just frustrates her even more. So what does she do to quiet her mind? Clean! And so she goes on, battling her own existence.
But things get complicated when Sol finds out she’s pregnant, and her boyfriend and family insist she hire a cleaner—she can’t even bend over without getting dizzy. Sol, unable to stand up for herself, gives in. But it haunts her. Reason number one: who could possibly clean better than her?
Reason number two: what kind of “progressive” woman hires an immigrant to clean up after her?
Living with the two Latina women she hires turns her home into a battleground where Sol struggles to keep control—even if it means absorbing their exhaustion as her own. At least now that she’s a mother, she’s busy all day, and no one asks why she doesn’t have a “real” job. But still, she wonders: What will my daughter think of me?
The reader gets full access to Sol’s mind—her obsessions, her absurd worries, and her tragicomic inner monologue.
In the end, her fight to be what she truly wants—a free woman, as modern society demands—is impossible not to take seriously.
So, after giving birth and still jobless, Sol decides to be brave: she’s going to clean houses! Little by little, she begins to take control of her quirks, no longer burdened by the judgment of others—or her own inner critic.
On her daughter’s first birthday, her mother gives her a toy broom and dustpan, and Sol laughs at herself. She finally understands that the life she wants for her daughter isn’t the one of the “21st-century independent woman,” but the one she chooses for herself.
KEY INFO: Casas limpias (Clean Houses) is the second novel by María Agúndez, who is already being recognized as one of the standout voices of her generation, with several translations underway internationally.
A sharp social satire with subtle humor, it follows a protagonist trapped in her own anxieties and complexes—poking holes in what’s considered politically correct. The tension and the emotional arc keep the reader hooked throughout.
The novel strikes a perfect balance between humor and drama, placing center stage a character whose fears and social pressures recall hit series like Fleabag, Girls, or Perfect Life (Vida perfecta).
AUDIOVISUAL POTENTIAL: TV Series, Miniseries, Feature Film, TV Movie.
AVAILABLE LANGUAGES: Spanish.
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