Caroline Kurchowski’s story starts
when she is eight and moves with her mom into their new home in Long
Island. Caroline (C.C.) knows that her
mom loves her, but she is horrified to find out that her mom isn’t always right
and definitely isn’t a normal mom. Mom
lives by the motto: if it’s free, it’s for me.
Jean Kurchowski is a compulsive hoarder, a woman who lives for a sale
and will drive halfway across the country for a deal (even though tolls and gas
run her what she would have saved, or more).
This is fiction that reads like a
memoir. I had to keep reminding myself
that it wasn’t true; I wasn’t reading journal entries mixed with memories. It felt so real. Each chapter is short, only five to fifteen pages,
chronicling another mishap/adventure in C.C.’s life. I loved the incident of the prom dress,
purchased from a woman who makes “creations” including the disintegrating
disaster forced on C.C. and the potluck Thanksgiving dinner where cheap Jean
figured someone would have been thoughtful enough to bring a turkey, not
realizing that it is really up to the hostess.
(The Thanksgiving story becomes a plumbing story that is quite funny.)
It’s a compulsive read. I couldn’t put it down because I wanted to
see what strange, horrible, wonderful thing happened next. While you have trouble understanding Jean,
you eventually get where she’s coming from, and she has heart so you do like
her despite herself.
