Product Description

When Lou Winter picks up a dog-eared magazine in the dentist's waiting room and spots an article about clearing clutter, she little realises how it will change her life. What begins as an earnest spring clean soon spirals out of control. Before long Lou is hiring skips in which to dump the copious amounts of junk she never knew she had. Lou's loved ones grow disgruntled. Why is clearing out cupboards suddenly more important than making his breakfast, her husband Phil wonders? The truth is, the more rubbish Lou lets go of, the more light and air can get to those painful, closed-up places at the centre of her heart: the love waiting for a baby she would never have, the empty space her best friend Deb once occupied, and the gaping wound left by her husband's affair. Even lovely Tom Broom, the man who delivers Lou's skips, starts to grow concerned about his sweetest customer. But Lou is a woman on a mission, and not even she knows where it will end ...

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #5397 in Books
• Published on: 2009-04-06
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 448 pages

About the Author
Five-foot-tall Milly Johnson is a half Barnsley, half Glaswegian writer of greetings cards, novels and shopping lists featuring gin and buns. When not writing she is either reading, learning Italian, mixing with the Yorkshire glitterati, getting up the council's nose about a Dodworth Road Pedestrian Crossing or ironing school clothes. She lives with her two boys and a quartet of mad animals near her Mam and Dad in the middle of Barnsley, South Yorkshire.

Customer Reviews

Lovely book, lovely story, perfect summer read
Lou Winter used to be a dynamic, fun-loving woman, but since her marriage, life has dragged her down. She's surrounded by people who take advantage of her: her unfaithful husband Phil, her mother, her sister, her friend and at work her office is controlled by a bully of the worst kind. But everything changes when Lou decides to start spring cleaning her life. She meets the gorgeous Tom Broom and his adorable dog Clooney, and the more she declutters, the more she realises what's really important in life - who her real friends are, and why it's important to follow your dreams. I won't give away the plot, but this is a lovely, sweet, funny and clever story with a brilliant, feel-good ending. I've loved all of Milly Johnson's books, but this is the best yet. It's the perfect read for summer.

Real comfort reading
I loved Lou Winter from the first chapter. At work she shows she is a force to be reckoned with but at home she is apparently auditioning for a part in the latest remake of The Stepford Wives'. But things are about to change. She picks up a magazine containing an article about de-cluttering your life and the effect it can have on you and starts to put the advice into practice.

Soon she is keeping the local skip hire firm - owned by hunky Tom Broom - in business and the home she shares with husband Phil is starting to look vaguely minimalist. Those around her such as her mother and sister, her clingy friend Michelle and even Phil are about to be startled out of their safe comfortable relationships with good old dependable Lou. Lou has buried ambitions which she is seriously considering resurrecting. Will Phil - used to home cooking and a spotless house - realise what is happening before it is too late?

I loved this book. It is well written and the dialogue is sparky as are the characters - even the horrible ones. Every reader will know someone like Phil or Michelle or the two Susans. It is a great comfort read and has that something indefinable which all good women's fiction has. I recommend it if you want a 'feel good' read.

Absolutely brilliant!
Milly Johnson's first two novels were great but this one is FANTASTIC! I tried not to read it too quickly, because I didn't want it to end, but I just couldn't help myself. This is so much more than a great story - anybody suffering bullying of any kind would do well to read this book. As Lou declutters her home and relationships, she regains her former confidence and strengths - it's inspirational. I found my own "Tom Broom" some while back, but it didn't stop me clearing out my cupboards! Well done Milly - please write some more!!