Dirty Laundry is La Chichita’s first novel. Although it’s fictional, she draws on her own experiences growing up in Argentina and then migrating to Australia.
Emanuel has asked his “La Macaca”, his great grandmother and his “abuela Carmela” his grandmother to write down their life stories. Emanuel intends to write a book on his rather large and unusual family.
To make it even more interesting he has asked each of his three grandfathers, Carmela’s husbands, to tell their stories.
The two women share childhood experiences of growing up in Buenos Aires and their love interests prior to their marriages.
Emanuel‘s great grandmother’s story starts early in the 20th century. She was born in Argentina, a daughter to a respectable and prosperous Italian family. She marries Paquito and they have three daughters. His great grandmother and great grandfather spend time living in both Argentina and Australia.
Carmela, their daughter, is Emanuel’s grandmother. Carmela is introduced to books at a very young age which inspires her love of learning. Carmela is able to go to university and travels to Australia. She is instrumental in the family migrating to Australia.
Carmela has two children with each of her ex husband , who certainly don’t mind exposing secrets and sharing their family experiences. Life for this family doesn’t always go according to plan.
The story takes you on a journey of family, relationships, different perspectives and opinions.
From poverty to wealth, fortunes lost, to passion, infidelities and difficulty as migrants with English as a second language. The events are sometimes funny, sometimes sad.
What family doesn’t have secrets they would rather not share?!
Emanuel’s family has definitely put their “dirty laundry” out in the open, making this an entertaining, interesting and engaging book to read.
Thank you to Shawline Publishing Group and Beauty and Lace for the opportunity to review Dirty Laundry.
A selection of our members have been reading Dirty Laundry. You can ead their thoughts in the comments below, or add your own review.

I love to read, any book on any topic. I now love ebooks as they are easier to store, I was running out of bookshelves! My other interests are family, gardening and our beautiful King Charles spaniel dog who is my reading companion.
Dysfunctional families, squabbling relatives, and marriages going through richer and poorer, better and worse, the ebook Dirty Laundry by La Chichita, ( Shawline Publishing Group) has a lot going on!
In essence it is a collection of stories told from a number of the characters perspectives, but predominantly by Carmela, daughter of the matriarch La Macaca. Together the stories reveal the many dramas and secrets of the family, as they migrate from Argentina to establish themselves in Sydney.
Like a soap opera or perhaps an Argentinian telenovella, Dirty Laundry is full of juicy love stories, plenty of gossip, heart break and colourful characters who keep you entertained and sometimes astonished until the last page.
I enjoyed this book although it was a little difficult to keep up with who was who!
I have never known people who divorce and remarry and move house so often!
However it was interesting to read a story from the perspective of migrants from Argentina as against the usual European.
I found the novel “Dirty Laundry ” a little challenging. Even though the lives of the characters were all interesting with lifetimes of drama and “dirty laundry” I personally did not really enjoy the collection of stories. Perhaps too much to digest at once but nevertheless I found the book to be
well written, at times amusing, with powerful insights into differing perspectives and cultures.
Thanks for the chance to read ‘Dirty Laundry’ by La Chicita!
This is quite a book – really a collection of stories from members of one family on their childhoods and lives in Argentina and their experiences when the emigrate to Sydney. There are lots of different stories and much passion and drama along the way but the book does give an insight into their lives and their family dynamics.
There are lots of characters and it can be difficult to follow who is who, but a satisfying read all the same.
Thanks again!
A little unusual and for me a challenge to read as it was a little out of my comfort zone. However, the characters were interesting! Secrets, drama and Dirty Laundry as it happens. Moving to another country can be challenging but more so when drama is involved.
Well done to La Chichita!
Thank you Beauty and Lace for allowing me to review Dirty Laundry by La Chicita.
I thoroughly enjoyed getting to know all of the characters and reading about how each family grew as people and as a whole family.
I did find it challenging to keep up with who was who at the start but I ended up figuring it out.
It was fascinating to read about Argentina and the differences between here and there.
I am glad I stuck with the book but at the end of the day I did like it.
Well written, and certainly some interesting characters, their life stories, and their culture, especially in that era. Unfortunately I just could not get into it. The first chapter had me intrigued. The second chapter I became confused as there were just SO many characters and family members. It would start to make sense and then I had to re-read sections to absorb what I was reading. Unusual for me, as I am usually a fast reader, and grasp a storyline quickly. The personalities of all of the characters were so diverse, and interesting to read about, but sadly, I gave up half way through. I will give it a rest, and go back to it in a few weeks, start from the beginning, and see if I can grasp it a little better. I have no doubt it will appeal to many, but to me was not an enjoyable read.
Thank you beauty & Lace for the opportunity to review “Dirty Laundry”