Book Blurb:
A daughter reconnects with her estranged parents before it’s too late in an emotional novel about memories, secrets, and finding home by the bestselling author of When We Chased the Light.
Charlie McFadden was fifteen years old when CPS removed her from her hoarded home. Her mother, Betty, chose her worthless collectibles. Her father chose Betty. Neither chose Charlie.
Thirty-one years later, a mother herself and cohost of a popular reality show with her husband, Charlie is proud of what she accomplished without her parents—relative strangers she never saw again. Until the day Charlie’s father pleads with her to come home and to say goodbye to her mother, now confined to a memory care center. Betty has her good days, recognizing her daughter with familiar resentment. And her bad ones, lost in the past as a blissful young mother with a cherished newborn. Those days make Charlie feel loved.
For Charlie, each memory is a journey and a revelation. She sees a mother she never knew—bright and beautiful with so much promise. But hidden away is also a fiercely guarded secret. Shared, it could finally bring hope and healing to a broken family. If Betty can bear to remember it.
My Review:
Extreme cases of hoarding. Good grief. Something I’d never read about before nor took terribly seriously. It’s as insidious as alcoholism, slowly taking over the person and then that person’s close members to the point of their very class of living.
My mother lived through the depression. When I tried to help my sister with the storage shed behind their mobile home, I was confronted with a quarter of the shed stacked with toilet paper. Funny then, years later when Covid hit that mother was gone too late to see her stash come in handy. But she was not a hoarder. Not in this definition.
Charlie (Charlotte, Lottie) McFadden is a TV host ah la Joanna Gaines who, at a crisis in her own home, is called by her father that he needed help with their home. Her mother, Betty, is in memory care, had been a hoarder to the point that Charlie was removed from the home at age 15 to foster care. She never went back and estranged all this time, reluctant to go back now except for the predicament with her marriage. He will lose the home if it is not cleared and cleaned up.
The time line as remembered through her dad then switches back and forth between the present day and Betty’s history is becoming exposed with the extensive cleaning. Her dad has always supported Betty to the exclusion of Charlie, something she grew very bitter about.
And the “good” days? That’s according to the nurse handling Betty that day who sees the real Betty—the one who is angry, disagreeable, and recognizes Charlie with vehemence. Not at all the loving mother of “Laura,” who on “bad” days doesn’t recognize Charlie as Charlie but a soft spoken, kindly, and loving mother. It’s the disease, the dementia.
As Charlie hammers away at Betty on bad days, trying to get to the truth of her history, there are hints of a twist. Who is…was…Laura? What’s with her father? Why won’t he talk to Charlie, fill in all the blanks?
A powerful story that examines, dissects, and disseminates dementia, painting the character scary and beautiful at the same time; sympathetic, clueless, difficult. That the house and hoarding was chosen over Charlie, their daughter, is a mantra throughout the book. Themes of a fractured, enabled marriage, damaged family dynamics, secrets, and emotional dimensions.
The setting of Lake Geneva is lovely, bringing to mind our one trip there to explore and taste the food, drink in the scenery. A tourist destination.
Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with the opportunity to read and review this book. The thoughts expressed here are my own.
Rosepoint Rating: Four point Five Stars 
Book Details:
Genre: Marriage & Divorce Fiction, 20th Century Historical Fiction
Publisher: Lake Union Publishing
ISBN: 978-1662531255
ASIN: B0DXG9J6ZT
Print Length: 379 pages
Publication Date: October 7, 2025
Source: Publisher and Netgalley
Title Link(s):
Amazon-US | Amazon-UK | Barnes & Noble
The Author: Emily Bleeker is a former educator who discovered her passion for writing after introducing a writer’s workshop to her students. She soon found a whole world of characters and stories living inside of her mind. It took a battle with a rare form of cancer to give her the courage to share that amazing world with others. Emily lives in suburban Chicago with her family. Between writing and being a mom, she attempts to learn guitar, performs with the house team of a local improv troupe, dabbles in karaoke, and embraces her newfound addiction to running. Connect with her or request a Zoom visit with your book club at emilybleeker.com.
©2025 V Williams
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Rosepoint Publishing 