The miracle one hour of storytelling can do

Illustration by Júlia Sardà

We have Russian cleaners who come clean our house. Today a new woman came to clean, and I chatted briefly with her and hung out in the kitchen while she cleaned my writing cave. Then I came up and we got to talking.

Every time someone new comes, I always ask them what they really do. Or did. Many Russian women immigrants have degrees up the wazoo, and after coming to America work as cleaners to make ends meet while they study English and try to figure out how to...