East Fishkill Community Library Online Book Group discussion

Share your thoughts on Careful What You Wish For by Hallie Ephron here.

"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.

Like other professionals who make a living decluttering peoples’ lives, Emily has devised a set of ironclad rules. When working with couples, she makes clear that the client is only allowed to declutter his or her own stuff. That stipulation has kept Emily’s own marriage together these past few years. She’d love nothing better than to toss out all her husband’s crap. 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."

I wasn't a big fan of this book. The story was okay, but not great. I think my problem is that I didn't like Emily. Her character was a little messy, ironically as she's supposed to be a professional organizer. I also hated her husband (view spoiler)[especially at the end when he switched sides. He was a weak character too, and I kind of wished he hadn't switched sides at the end - I would have liked him as a stronger character more. (hide spoiler)] The pace of the book was also a little too slow for me. It wasn't bad, just meh.