None

Tracing the fortunes of the Portuguese cleaning women Quit#65533;ria and Mar#65533;a da Gra#65533;a, as well as those of Andriy, a Ukrainian immigrant, this novel--original and tragic, comic and subversive, ironic and celebratory--acts as a prophetic portrait of current Portuguese society. In the travails of its protagonists, readers experience the daily struggles of the lower and immigrant classes in the Lusitanian country. On a more intimate scale, however, the story, particularly in the relationship between Quit#65533;ria and Andriy, illustrates the power of the things that unite individuals and love's power to bloom even in the unlikeliest circumstances.