Cleaning Stories And Other Tails

By Maggie Mortimer

Cleaning Stories And Other Tails is a broad sweep of mainly the underclass. Bread crumbs of prostitution, idyllic adoption and the mumblings of a white woman near an indigenous reserve make the reader ponder, lash out and albeit care for the various winners and losers that cross days and nights.

The characters drawn from a realm of healers, liars and ordinary Joes populate urban landscapes with self-deprecating wit, emotional shortcomings and identifiable crisis.

The first incarnation of this book was a rough sketch I did while working as a maid in the Jewish ghetto of Montreal, Quebec.

There have been many stained mattresses, unavailable rooms, and smoke-inhaled lobbies in the interim.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Austin Macauley Publishers
• Release date: Oct 31, 2022
• ISBN: 9781398433007

Maggie Mortimer

Maggie Mortimer is a mature journalism student. She lives in Toronto Ontario, Canada, surrounded by many possibilities. This is her second book to be published by Austin Macauley Publishers. Her first book, Crash, was a collection of poetry. Both her poetry and prose can be sparsely found online and in literary journals.

Book preview

About the Author

Maggie Mortimer is a mature journalism student. She lives in Toronto Ontario, Canada, surrounded by many possibilities.

This is her second book to be published by Austin Macauley Publishers. Her first book, Crash, was a collection of poetry. Both her poetry and prose can be sparsely found online and in literary journals.

Dedication

To my siblings (who are twelve in number), and to the production team at Austin Macauley Publishers.

Copyright Information ©

Maggie Mortimer 2022

The right of Maggie Mortimer to be identified as author of this work has been asserted by the author in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publishers.

Any person who commits any unauthorised act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events, locales, and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

A CIP catalogue record for this title is available from the British Library.

ISBN 9781398432994 (Paperback)

ISBN 9781398433007 (ePub e-book)

www.austinmacauley.com

First Published 2022

Austin Macauley Publishers Ltd®

1 Canada Square

Canary Wharf

London

E14 5AA

Acknowledgement

I would like to thank the people of Tyendinaga and the surrounding area for not arresting me for hitchhiking; and for allowing my curiosity and long walks in a culture and climate quite different from my own.

Thanks to a certain professor at U of T for sharing some forbidden kisses. Kudos to my belated mother and to my psychiatrist.

Thank you, Max, for returning me to ‘the falls’!

Thanks to Benny and Cabbagetown Boxing Club for my first job in Toronto.

For the lucky few that I cleaned for in Montreal, Toronto, and the Nappanee area, and many, many thanks for Paul Taylor and his team for