Objects of My Affection

Advance praise for

OBJECTS OF MY AFFECTION

“I loved this deeply felt, bravely honest tale of a professional organizer who discovers just how messy life and love can be, but that everything truly does have a place. A treasure of a novel.”

—MELISSA SENATE, author of
The Love Goddess' Cooking School

“Simultaneously breezy yet thought provoking, this is a fun read that stays with you.”

—SARAH PEKKANEN, author of
These Girls

Praise for

JILL SMOLINSKI

“Smart, engaging, and as refreshing as a dip in the surf.”

—JENNIFER WEINER, author of
Fly Away Home

“Fresh and fun to read.”

—THE BOSTON GLOBE

“Warm and original.”

—PEOPLE

In the humorous, heartfelt new novel by the author of
The Next Thing on My List,
a personal organizer must somehow convince a reclusive artist to give up her hoarding ways and let go of the stuff she's hung on to for decades.

Lucy Bloom is broke, freshly dumped
by her boyfriend, and forced to sell her house to send her nineteen-year-old son to drug rehab. Although she's lost it all, she's determined to start over. So when she's offered a high-paying gig helping clear the clutter from the home of reclusive and eccentric painter Marva Meier Rios, Lucy grabs it. Armed with the organizing expertise she gained while writing her book,
Things Are Not People,
and fueled by a burning desire to get her life back on track, Lucy rolls up her sleeves to take on the mess that fills every room of Marva's huge home. Lucy soon learns that the real challenge may be taking on Marva, who seems to love the objects in her home too much to let go of any of them.

While trying to stay on course toward a strict deadline—and with an ex-boyfriend back in the picture, a new romance on the scene, and her son's rehab not going as planned—Lucy discovers that Marva isn't just hoarding, she is also hiding a big secret. The two form an unlikely bond, as each learns from the other that there are those things in life we keep, those we need to let go—but it's not always easy to know the difference.

Jill Smolinski
is the author of the novels
The Next Thing on My List
and
Flip-Flopped
. Her work has appeared in major women's magazines, as well as in an anthology of short stories,
American Girls About Town
. She lives in Los Angeles with her son.

www.jillsmolinski.com

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ALSO BY JILL SMOLINSKI

The Next Thing on My List

Flip-Flopped