The title, cover and blurb drew me in. The story kept me going, it's a beautiful story about a mother and daughter and the effects of colonialism in modern day Brazil. It reminded me a little bit of Virginia Woolf's To the Lighthouse, if you know, you know. It's not a style I particularly enjoy, but I do enjoy the concept.

Thank you to NetGalley, Random House/Knopf, and Eliana Alves Cruz for giving me access to this eARC!

I loved that I read this book during women in translation month! I also just loved this book in general. Told in multiple perspectives, both human and inanimate, this is the story of a mother and daughter who spend a large period of their lives working as domestic help for a wealth family in Brazil. A tragic event changes the outlook of the mother, Eunice, who is blinded by the love she has for this family, something that her daughter Mabel has already come to terms with through her own hardships. This book took my heart and ripped it and put it back together multiple times over. Mabel's POV stuck with me the most. I wanted her to have all of the good things in the world. I was so glad when she was able to connect with the person who truly loved her, have a fulfilling career, and reinvigorate her relationship with her mother. Life was not easy for either of these women but they gave so freely to those around them that they deserved some back in return.

I hope to read much more by Alves Cruz in the future, this book was a solid 4.5 stars for me!

This novel about domestic servitude in modern Brazil is a translation from Portuguese.

Mabel stays with her mother Eunice who works as a live-in maid for a very wealthy family. Mabel’s presence is merely tolerated; as a child she must stay in a small room at the back of the house assigned to her mother. When she is older, she is expected to help her mother, so the family actually has two servants for the price of one. Mabel is dissatisfied with the smallness of her life and she is motivated to work towards a better one.

Eunice is uneducated, has an alcoholic partner who takes her money, and has a daughter and an ailing mother dependent on her so she needs the job. As a consequence, she accepts exploitative working conditions. Workers like her are expected to be there whenever needed, “present without being,” but are treated “as though they’re invisible and disposable.” They are expected to be grateful “for receiving far less than . . . deserved during years of ceaseless dedication and work.” When tragedy strikes, Eunice must decide if she will be complicit and remain silent in face of the injustices meted out by the wealthy family she has served for years.

The book is divided into three parts; the first is narrated by Mabel, the second by Eunice, and the third by a non-human narrator. In the first two sections, it’s interesting to see the contrast between daughter and mother. Whereas Eunice accepts silent servitude, Mabel resents the unfair treatment she and her mother receive and she rebels; in fact, when Mr. Tiago smirks at hearing Mabel say she wants to become a doctor, she uses his scorn as further motivation. The third narrator ties together all the novel’s themes.

Throughout the novel, the author uses a unifying metaphor: she compares the smallness of a maid’s room to the small lives of those forced to live in one. Mabel comments that “for those who weren’t residents [in the luxury apartment building], everything was little: little-room, little-apartment, little-bathroom . . .” In essence they live in “A prison, a place meant to separate these lives from the world and from the other residents.” Mabel and the doorman’s son João Pedro want to escape from what is perfectly described as a “jail of the soul.”

There is a sharp contrast between the wealthy employers and their employees. The wealthy can use their money to make happen what is impossible for the poor. Mabel observes, “People like us needed to calculate every step with precision or our lives could derail forever.” She, for instance, has a problem also faced by a rich girl, but whereas the rich girl solves it easily, Mabel has difficulty solving it on her own.

Mabel and others like her are labelled as non-children, people who “don’t have the right to childhood.” Eunice mentions, “A good servant is silent; a child who is the servant’s daughter must be as well. She can’t laugh like a child, she can’t jump or play like a child. She isn’t a child.” Mabel and others like her “never had the chance to slip up in the one phase of life when it should be the most natural to.” The doorman of the building wants his son to know that “anything good he might do would go unseen, and anything bad would make him the easiest one to blame.”

I was aware that Brazil has one of the highest levels of income inequality globally and that its society is marked by significant racial inequalities, but this novel delivers that information in an emotionally impactful way. I recommend it to anyone wanting to more fully understand Brazil’s racial and class imbalances.

This book left a deep mark on me. It tells the story of a mother and daughter who work as live-in maids for a wealthy family, showing how class, power, and silence shape their lives. Eunice, the mother, accepts her quiet role and carries the burden of generations before her, women who’ve always served others. Her daughter Mabel, however, begins to feel trapped and restless. She wants something more, something different. Their relationship is filled with love but also unspoken pain, as Mabel tries to break the cycle her mother has silently accepted.

What touched me most was how the book explores the idea of modern-day servitude...how even though slavery is over, its effects still linger. The characters aren’t in chains, but they’re not free either. It shows how hard it is to break away from a system built to keep people in their place. Still, there's strength, quiet resistance, and a strong hope for something better.

The writing is simple yet so emotional. Every sentence carries weight. The way the author captures space...small rooms, big silences, invisible borders...is brilliant. It reminded me a lot of "Clean" by Alia Trabucco Zerán, one of my all-time favorite books, because both explore class, injustice, and generational pain in such an intimate way.

Huge thanks to NetGalley and the publishers, Penguin Random House Canada & Alchemy by Knopf Canada for the eARC. This was a deeply meaningful read...one that will stay with me for a long, long time.

4.5 stars ✨

This short novel written in a deceptively simple style truly packs quite the punch.

I was immediately hooked and invested in Mabel and Eunice’s fates, I could not put the book down.

The choices of narrators were also particularly well done. Would definitely recommend.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the arc.

At The Golden Plate, a luxurious building in Brazil, Eunice has dedicated her life to a wealthy family. She spends most of her time working as a housekeeper for Ms. Lucia and Mr. Tiago, while also taking care of her family. Some days, she has no other choice but to bring her daughter to work. Hiding Mabel in the little room at her employer’s prisonlike apartment, Eunice will realize there are some secrets even rooms or money can’t hide.

I found this book captivating, falling into the category of books that can be read in an afternoon. Solitaria is a wonderful example of how simple writing can be striking if done well. In Solitaria, classicism and power dynamics are brilliantly portrayed. Eunice is a raw representation of so many women in the world, particularly in Brazil, who are victims of abuse and slavery; a serious issue hidden behind the words “housemaid” and “domestic work.” In my opinion, this book has it all: multiple points of view, important themes, lovely writing and engrossing story… I would recommend this book to everyone, especially those looking for a quick and emotional read.

Thank you to the translator who did a wonderful job, and thank you to the author, the publisher and Net Galley for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I already reviewed this because it was put on NetGalley twice, but I absolutely LOVED this book and will absolutely be promoting it when it is released! If a physical copy could be sent to me I'd be happy to do a dedicated post, but I have already promoted on my story.

I flew through this book. The translation is phenomenal, making it easy to read and the plot draws you in very quickly.

A little bit about the plot: Mabel goes to work with her mom, Eunice, who is a live-in maid for a very wealthy family in Brazil. She finds it insufferable and is eager to escape this cycle and make a better life. We get her perspective, opinions, and experiences with the wealthy couple and their children. We also get Eunice's perspective. As a mom, she's doing the best she can to work and tries to keep the peace in the home she is working in. Throughout the book, conflict makes her question her quest to stay quiet in the background.

I enjoyed the contrast of the mother and daughter's opinions on their situation and the side characters of the story. Overall, the book gives a good glance into the reality of slavery in Brazil at the time. I'm so excited that the book has been translated into English and hope it will be successful!

Thank you to Penguin Random House Canada & NetGalley for an advanced copy of this newly translated book - expected publishing date: August 25, 2025

What I can appreciate about Solitaria is that it has a very focused thesis idea that underlies the entire plot -- it knows what it's about and explores it with fervor. The end result ties together in a bit of a dualistic way (i.e: poor people = good, rich people = bad), and while I always enjoy an analysis of class structures, I just wish it was explored in a more nuanced way that dissected the overall societal issues rather than individual morality. I also found the actual writing to be a bit simplistic, but this could very well be a product of being translated. Beyond this, I really enjoyed the multiple perspectives; the final part was especially unique and tied together the themes of isolation and invisibility. Overall, I think most readers will be able to appreciate the authors valiant attempt to shed light on the unique, but also universally felt, class imbalances in Brazil.

Soltaria by Eliana Alves Cruz, translated by Benjamin Brooks, is about a mother and daughter who work as live-in maids for the rich while navigating their lives. The story touches on themes of classism, colonialism, racism, and how they intersect.

This book was captivating - no line of it was wasted as everything felt interesting and important. The way the author hints at a larger event, then takes her time telling the story is gripping. You as the reader get a glimpse at what will happen and desperately want to know how it comes to be. This style of writing is so successful partly due to the fact that the characters have depth and feel like real people.

The little-room being a place where characters face things in solitude is what makes all of the tragedies of the book seem greater. There are strong metaphors throughout the book that act as a commentary on how systems of oppression maintain the status quo, but they are subtle enough that the book doesn’t feel preachy.

One piece of criticism I will give is that I didn’t love the addition of a recent world event to the end of the book. While I can understand that it was included to further drive the point of the story’s overall themes, I felt it acted as a distraction from the main story. This addition was minor enough that it doesn’t change my overall rating, however.