Content Warning: This section of the guide includes discussion of death by suicide and death.

Janice, an empty nester in her late forties living in Cambridge, England, collects others’ personal histories as “stories.” She reflects on and appreciates the wide variety of stories in her collection and enjoys hearing new ones. Her husband, by contrast, “swamps her with speeches rather than stories” (2).

Janice works as a self-employed house cleaner. She takes the city bus to travel between clients. On the Monday when the narrative begins, she cleans Geordie’s house in the morning and Fiona’s in the afternoon. Janice dwells on her clients’ stories as she cleans. Geordie has a big personality and is known for his opera career. As a young man, Geordie fell in love with the opera La Boheme so completely that he left his home in Newcastle and walked to London to find more opera. He took a job as a props boy and later launched his career as a famous tenor. Janice thinks that he is a caring man; he insists that she take care of her cold as she leaves.