Cleaning Closets

By Susan DeBow

One hanger, one child, one secret, and one messy stack of stuff at a time; Lydia Calypso cleans out the closets of her life. The truths she uncovers as she tidies up help her see her life, her... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0976490447
• ISBN13: 9780976490449
• Release Date: September 2007
• Publisher: Dialogue Publishing, Inc.
• Length: 342 Pages
• Weight: 1.17 lbs.
• Dimensions: 9.0" x 1.0" x 6.0"

Customer Reviews

Terrific story of life

It took me several tries to begin the book because my friends kept walking off with it before I was even able to pick it up on my own. I purchased five copies before I finally managed to get one home and sit down and read it from cover to cover. Cleaning Closets is one of those books that gets picked up for an entertaining read, and ends up being so much more. The story of Lydia, her attempts to get her life together after her husband's death, the well meaning actions of her children, and all the day-by-day occurrences that help Lydia to find herself by cleaning her lifetime's closets, ends up being a "can't put it down" special treat. Susan DeBow is a wonderful sensitive writer whose prose clearly is able to take us on a wild safari through our personal closets and examine our own lives as a result of examining Lydia's.

Right on.

Susan DeBow really captured the joys and sorrows of later stages of women's lives and especially of motherhood. Although most of my own life circumstances are very different than Lydia's, my stomach went into sympathetic knots every few pages. The metaphor of closets was a great choice. Every time a purse falls on my head, I start to think about cleaning not only that space but also the other messes in my life. The book is also a great reminder to prospective writers that one doesn't need to have had a glamorous or adventurous life to have a lot of material to write about. Unfortunately one needs Susan DeBow's talent for close observation and picking salient details that reverberate for the reader.

Engrossing

This book is delicious to read. Make sure you have time set aside, because you won't want to put it down. The characters become real as the pages unfold, and the plot twists and turns just when you think you see what is coming next.

Great page turner

Susan DeBow captured the essence of family dynamics in this book. Once I started reading, I could barely put it down. Lydia was a character I could definitely identify with and was really believable. I can usually guess what is going to happen in a book, but this one kept me guessing. Would highly recommend.