There is a lot that is admirable in this
novel, in particular its ability to highlight the inhumane way the migrant
domestic workers are treated. (Review by Margaret von Klemperer, courtesy of The Witness)
Journalist Fiona Mitchell’s debut novel, The Maid’s Room, focuses on the plight
of migrant domestic workers, mostly from the Philippines, in Singapore, but it
is easy to extrapolate the story to encompass that of domestic workers
everywhere. Think South Africa. And also think Kathryn Stockett’s bestselling The Help which looked at the American
south in the 1960s and which I can’t help feeling may have been a strong
influence here. It even gets a mention in the text.
Sisters Dolly and Tala both work in the
city, Dolly as maid and nanny to a dysfunctional family (and most of the
families, whether ex-pat or local, seem to be extraordinarily dysfunctional)
and Tala, illegally, as a cleaner to a number of households. Her work is
illegal because she is supposed to only have one job – migrant workers are
subject to all kinds of restrictions, including a six-monthly pregnancy test
which, if they fail, sees them booted out. Parallel to their stories is that of
Jules, a new arrival in the city, along with her husband. Their tragedy is their
inability to have a child, and Jules finds life among the bored,
nanny-employing housewives increasingly intolerable. She tries to befriend some
of the domestic workers, but, as often as not, she makes things worse for them.
Tala, who is by far the most appealing
character, decides to create a blog under the pseudonym Maidhacker, detailing
the lives of the domestics, and also responding to Vanda’s blog which instructs
employers on how to treat their employees – badly. Should Tala’s identity
become public, she would probably be deported. But then there is a terrible
accident, and things begin to spiral out of control for maids, madams, Jules
and pretty well everyone.
There is a lot that is admirable in this
novel, in particular its ability to highlight the inhumane way the migrant
domestic workers are treated. But Mitchell is very prone to telling rather than
showing, and the whole complicated tale sometimes becomes a bit of a plod,
except when the lively Tala is centre stage. Also, the ending seems rushed, and
the transformation some of the characters undergo is frankly unbelievable. For
instance, “Ma’am Amber”, who is so ghastly that she appears to be a caricature
suddenly seems to see the light and appear on the side of the angels. I
couldn’t get my head around that.
The
Maid’s Room is published by Hodder & Stoughton
- ISBN: 9781473659582 - Margaret von Klemperer
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