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After a video of her organizing her sock drawer goes viral, Emily Harlow uses her moment in the spotlight to start Freeze-Frame Clutter Kickers and launch her career as a professional organizer. The catch: she’s married to a man who can’t drive past a yard sale without stopping.
Like other professionals who make a living decluttering people’s lives, Emily has devised a set of ironclad rules. When working with couples, for example, she makes it clear that each person is only allowed to declutter his or her own stuff. This stipulation has kept Emily’s own marriage together these past few years as her basement, attic, and garage have filled up with her husband’s finds. She’d love nothing more than to toss out all his crap. He says he’s a collector. Emily knows better—he’s a hoarder. And the larger his “collection” becomes, the deeper the distance grows between Emily and the man she married.
Luckily, Emily’s got two new clients to distract herself: an elderly widow whose husband left behind a storage unit that she didn’t know existed, and a young wife whose husband won’t allow her stuff into their house. But when Emily’s initial meeting with the young wife takes a detour involving too much wine and fantasies of how much more pleasant life would be without their collecting spouses, Emily finds herself in a mess that might be too big for her to clean up.
About the author
Hallie Ephron is the New York Times bestselling author of Never Tell a Lie, Come and Find Me, There Was an Old Woman, and Night Night, Sleep Tight. For twelve years she was the crime fiction reviewer for the Boston Globe. The daughter of Hollywood screenwriters, she grew up in Beverly Hills, and lives near Boston, Massachusetts.
Summary
From the New York Times bestselling author of There Was an Old Woman comes a novel about a professional organizer with a deadly problem she may not be able to clean up.
“Thrilling and suspenseful.... I laughed more than I expected to, related to quotidian elements like overpacked closets, and let myself be carried along on this nightmare of a trip…. Emily…is a friend we would all want to keep—messes included.”—Jamie Lee Curtis, Time
Emily Harlow is a professional organizer who helps people declutter their lives; she’s married to man who can’t drive past a yard sale without stopping. He’s filled their basement, attic, and garage with his finds, and she’d love nothing better than to toss out all of it. He says he’s a collector. Emily knows better—he’s a hoarder. The larger his “collection” becomes, the deeper the distance grows between Emily and the man she married.
Luckily, Emily’s got two new clients to distract herself: an elderly widow whose husband left behind a storage unit she didn’t know existed, and a young wife whose husband won’t allow her stuff into their house. Emily’s initial meeting with the young wife takes a detour when, after too much wine, the women end up fantasizing about how much more pleasant life would be without their collecting spouses.
But the next day Emily finds herself in a mess that might be too big for her to clean up. Careful what you wish for, the old adage says. Now Emily might lose her freedom, her marriage . . . and possibly her life.
