Dirty Secret

A Daughter Comes Clean About Her Mother's Compulsive Hoarding

Nonfiction, Family & Relationships, Biography & Memoir
Cover of the book Dirty Secret by Jessie Sholl, Gallery Books
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Jessie Sholl ISBN: 9781439192535
Publisher: Gallery Books Publication: December 28, 2010
Imprint: Gallery Books Language: English
Author: Jessie Sholl
ISBN: 9781439192535
Publisher: Gallery Books
Publication: December 28, 2010
Imprint: Gallery Books
Language: English

A fascinating look at compulsive hoarding by a woman whose mother suffers from the disease.

To be the child of a compulsive hoarder is to live in a permanent state of unease. Because if my mother is one of those crazy junk-house people, then what does that make me?

When her divorced mother was diagnosed with cancer, New York City writer Jessie Sholl returned to her hometown of Minneapolis to help her prepare for her upcoming surgery and get her affairs in order. While a daunting task for any adult dealing with an aging parent, it’s compounded for Sholl by one lifelong, complex, and confounding truth: her mother is a compulsive hoarder. Dirty Secret is a daughter’s powerful memoir of confronting her mother’s disorder, of searching for the normalcy that was never hers as a child, and, finally, cleaning out the clutter of her mother’s home in the hopes of salvaging the true heart of their relationship—before it’s too late.

Growing up, young Jessie knew her mother wasn’t like other mothers: chronically disorganized, she might forgo picking Jessie up from kindergarten to spend the afternoon thrift store shopping. Now, tracing the downward spiral in her mother’s hoarding behavior to the death of a long-time boyfriend, she bravely wades into a pathological sea of stuff: broken appliances, moldy cowboy boots, twenty identical pairs of graying bargain-bin sneakers, abandoned arts and crafts, newspapers, magazines, a dresser drawer crammed with discarded eyeglasses, shovelfuls of junk mail . . . the things that become a hoarder’s “treasures.” With candor, wit, and not a drop of sentimentality, Jessie Sholl explores the many personal and psychological ramifications of hoarding while telling an unforgettable mother-daughter tale.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

A fascinating look at compulsive hoarding by a woman whose mother suffers from the disease.

To be the child of a compulsive hoarder is to live in a permanent state of unease. Because if my mother is one of those crazy junk-house people, then what does that make me?

When her divorced mother was diagnosed with cancer, New York City writer Jessie Sholl returned to her hometown of Minneapolis to help her prepare for her upcoming surgery and get her affairs in order. While a daunting task for any adult dealing with an aging parent, it’s compounded for Sholl by one lifelong, complex, and confounding truth: her mother is a compulsive hoarder. Dirty Secret is a daughter’s powerful memoir of confronting her mother’s disorder, of searching for the normalcy that was never hers as a child, and, finally, cleaning out the clutter of her mother’s home in the hopes of salvaging the true heart of their relationship—before it’s too late.

Growing up, young Jessie knew her mother wasn’t like other mothers: chronically disorganized, she might forgo picking Jessie up from kindergarten to spend the afternoon thrift store shopping. Now, tracing the downward spiral in her mother’s hoarding behavior to the death of a long-time boyfriend, she bravely wades into a pathological sea of stuff: broken appliances, moldy cowboy boots, twenty identical pairs of graying bargain-bin sneakers, abandoned arts and crafts, newspapers, magazines, a dresser drawer crammed with discarded eyeglasses, shovelfuls of junk mail . . . the things that become a hoarder’s “treasures.” With candor, wit, and not a drop of sentimentality, Jessie Sholl explores the many personal and psychological ramifications of hoarding while telling an unforgettable mother-daughter tale.

More books from Gallery Books

Cover of the book Simply Clean by Jessie Sholl
Cover of the book Beautiful Tempest by Jessie Sholl
Cover of the book Don't Be That Girl by Jessie Sholl
Cover of the book Dark Lies by Jessie Sholl
Cover of the book Beautiful Bombshell by Jessie Sholl
Cover of the book Prisoner of Night by Jessie Sholl
Cover of the book The Dirty Book Club by Jessie Sholl
Cover of the book The Ghost by Jessie Sholl
Cover of the book The Red Hunter by Jessie Sholl
Cover of the book World of Warcraft: War Crimes by Jessie Sholl
Cover of the book The Deputy by Jessie Sholl
Cover of the book Extinct for a Reason by Jessie Sholl
Cover of the book Literally Me by Jessie Sholl
Cover of the book Death Before Dishonor by Jessie Sholl
Cover of the book Honor Bound by Jessie Sholl
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy