Doris

DORIS appeared in Weekend Guardian for ten years. Doris cleaned for the chattering classes but never spoke herself. To me, she represented a figure in all of our lives: that of the barely visible worker, mother, grandmother, aunt, undervalued by the society whose wheels she is oiling.

Doris endured many insults, but perhaps her highest praise came from a reformed convict who told me: ‘I love Doris. My mother was a cleaner. I used to sit in the corner while she tidied little Tarquin and Amanda’s nursery. I couldn’t wait to grow up and rob the lot of them.’

I include some early Doris pictures here because I still miss her.