Extraordinary coming of selfhood novel that finds strength in the stories we hold close and the people we holder closer.

I am Eve. Collector of words. I look them up. I write them down. I knead them into sentences. I am the story. When her mum rescues a book from a garbage can, Eve's life changes. She reads her way into the stories, into a place in the world, worlds she never knew existed. Eve becomes the story. Everything is possible. But with adulthood comes deception and betrayal; to survive Eve strips life bare. No stories, no people, no connection. But the stories are determined to win her back. Alexina Dalgetty has written short stories, plays and A Cleaning Woman's Daughter is her first published novel. She has also waitressed a lot. For many years Alexina worked with Theatre of the Oppressed techniques. In 1993 she co-founded an alternate high school, inspired by TO, for youth who had not experienced success in school. It remains in operation. Born in Sheringham in Norfolk, Alexina grew up in Luton, Bedfordshire, and currently lives in Camrose, Alberta.