How to Deal with Heartbreak

Getting burnt by the sun hurts, but getting burnt by love hurts even more. The main character of this novel, Éléonore, knows this all too well. She's a quirky French woman living in Italy, currently making a living as a cleaner. With her broom and sharp humour, she tries to sweep not only dust but also sorrow from her clients' homes and her own heart. She's almost forty, a mother to sixteen-year-old twins, and has just ended a year-long affair with a married man whom she still desperately loves.

How do you get over the pain of a break-up, and how long can the suffering possibly last?

Over the five weeks that we get a glimpse into her life, she discovers that although each week might seem the same as the last, the opposite is true. Her clients are also going through their own dramas, and it seems that Éléonore, who enters their homes and lives like a grey eminence, can help them in many ways. Every seemingly ordinary weekday gives her the chance to learn what life gives and takes away, and in the process, perhaps find some remedy for her own broken heart.