The Pile of Stuff at the Bottom of the Stairs
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- €1.99
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- €1.99
Publisher Description
Mary doesn't know what makes her angrier - the way he doesn't quite reach the laundry basket when he throws his dirty clothes at it (but never walks over and picks them up and puts them in), or the balled-up tissues he leaves on the bedside table when he has a cold, or the way he never completely empties the dishwasher, but leaves the 'difficult' things for her to put away. Is it that because she is 'only working part-time' she is responsible for everything on the domestic front? Or is it, simply, that he puts used teabags in the sink?
Mary is the mother of two young boys - she knows how you're supposed to get the behaviour you want. So now she's designing the spousal equivalent of a star chart. Every little thing her husband does wrong is going on it. And yes, she know you're supposed to reward the good behaviour rather than punish the bad, but obviously the rules for those in middle age are different than the rules for those not even in middle school...
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Mom-of-two Mary is an angry woman, and she's determined to count the ways. But list-o-mania doesn't begin to cover the legion of gripes the part-time TV producer has against husband Joel, whom she is secretly, and hilariously, judging. Hopkinson (Cyber Cinderella) channels every nasty thought of her mad housewife: Joel leaves clothes and food debris all over the house, and never clears the table. Adding to Mary's woes are her formidable mother-in-law; best friend, Mitzi, whose perfect life hides a kinky secret; and gay-pal Becky, who longs for the kind of messy life Mary moans about. There's far more to this sharp look at the craziness of modern life and love than Mary's angry rants and snarky patter about how everyone is leading a better life than she is, and though there's a too-pat ending for these warring partners, Hopkinson nails a marriage cracking into a million pieces, and manages to make you believe there's always a way to patch things up.
