You're Spring Cleaning

Want a fresh cozy mystery or a mother-daughter memoir

Hi pals,

Hope you had a great weekend. I was lucky enough to attend the PEN/Faulkner Foundation awards last week. It was a wonderful evening celebrating the joy and importance of reading fiction. Congrats to Claire Jimenez on her win of the PEN/Faulkner award for What Happened to Ruthy Ramirez. In addition to its awards, the organization brings authors and writing programs to D.C. schools.

I also have a quick correction to last week’s edition: Harrison Ford was 14 years older than Carrie Fisher, not 35. Sorry about the typo!

And, now, what to read if…

You’re in the Midst of Spring Cleaning

Clutter by Jennifer Howard

If you asked me a few months ago, if I had a lot of stuff, I would have said, “No. I live in a one-bedroom apartment.” Now, after a month-long decluttering project, I’m mostly thinking, “where did I keep it all?” I’ve dropped off tote bags of books at neighborhood Little Free Libraries, donated bags of clothes and become a regular in my local Buy Nothing Facebook group. I also used the time to read Jennifer Howard’s Clutter, a meditation on our relationship to stuff in the age of Marie Kondo, “Hoarders” and The Container Store.

Howard alternates between recounting the exhausting experience of cleaning out her mother’s home — filled with ball gowns, designer shoes, knickknacks and more distressing items such as sludge and mouse droppings in the kitchen — and a well-reported examination of the developed world’s obsession with material goods. She connects the dots between the Victorian’s obsession with tchotchkes and furniture, the Sears & Roeback catalog and our current reliance on Amazon Prime.

Coming in at less than 200 pages, Clutter packs a lot into its slim size. And, it’s changed the way I shop. Earlier this week, I realized I needed candle stick holders and a new pitcher. Rather than buying new, I went online to purchase some neat vintage pieces, helping other folks declutter their homes and keep items out of landfills.

You’re Looking for a Fun Mystery

Glory Be by Danielle Arceneaux

Glory Broussard, the self-described “old, fat, Black woman” bookie/church lady titular heroine of Danielle Arceneaux’s debut novel, is one of the best amateur sleuths I’ve read in ages. As the phrase “bookie/church lady” implies, she’s one-of-a-kind and a total delight to hang out with.

As the novel begins, Glory is taking bets at her local coffee shop when she overhears a police radio describing a brutal death at the address where her best friend, a nun, lives. Law enforcement rules her friend’s death a suicide, but Glory doesn’t believe it. With her daughter — who is keeping some big secrets of her own — Glory launches an investigation that brings them in contact with church leaders, oil executives and a suspected voodoo priestess, among other colorful characters.

I listened to Glory Be and Banhi Turpin’s narration really made the mystery shine, but I’m sure it would be a great reading experience as well. The plot combines church politics, environmental justice and local intrigue, with sharp observations about how growing up in Jim Crow Louisiana continues to affect Glory today. I’m eagerly waiting for a sequel.

You Want a Mother-Daughter Memoir

The Mango Tree by Annabelle Tometich

With Mother’s Day approaching, I thought it was a good time to highlight a fantastic new installment of one of my favorite subgenres, the mother-daughter memoir. Annabelle Tometitch’s The Mango Tree ranks up there with some of the best.

The Mango Tree opens with Annabelle receiving a collect call from an inmate at the Lee County Jail — it’s her mother, Josefina. She’s shot a man. When she tells her younger siblings what has happened, she says “Mom shot at some guy. He was messing with her mangoes,” and they immediately understand. From there, she flashes back to her childhood, seeking to understand and explain how Josefina, a Filipina immigrant with no record, landed in jail for assault.

The Tometichs’ lives were marked by tragedy, including the untimely death of Annabelle’s father, their mother’s angry outbursts and her bitter homesickness for the country and family she left behind. The relationship between Annabelle and Josefina is complicated at best, and yet The Mango Tree is an empathetic and nuanced look at how Josefina and Annabelle became the people they are. Poignant and moving, it’s an ode to complex people.

Reminder recs: Some of my other favorite mother-daughter memoirs include Somebody’s Daughter by Ashley Ford, Liz Scheier’s Never Simple, Wild Game by Adrienne Brodeur and All You Can Ever Know by Nicole Chung.

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Thanks for reading! Have a great week.

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