REVIEW:

Pop quiz. What is this book about?

a) Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip (RIP)

b) A bakeshop owner in London

c) A Windsor Castle housekeeper

d) Mary Poppins

Haha, trick question! None of the above. A House Full of Windsor is about a hoarder. In Philadelphia. Didn’t see that coming, did you?

As someone who rarely reads the full synopsis of a book beforehand, I can be caught off guard occasionally. Here I just glanced at the first sentence of it and said SIGN ME UP: “Spanning from 1980s London and the royal wedding of a century…” Those few words check a lot of boxes for me.

In fairness, our hoarder’s last name is Windsor. She also has an obsession with the British royal family, so her hoard consists of commemorative bits and baubles (and allllllll the tea towels) cranked out anytime Prince George so much as takes his first poo in a potty.

Now Ms. Windsor’s grown children decide it’s their job to help her chuck her possessions. Their solution is to sign her up for a “Hoarders”-like reality TV show. But this is make believe, so we’re meant to visualize a clean (if “unsafe”) hoarder home that smells like lavender potpourri rather than decaying smashed rats and Taco Bell wrappers. We’re also meant to accept that in-depth, serious treatment of her mental illness isn’t really necessary, because reality TV can cure anything.

Personally, I never really could accept those things, and reading a hoarding romcom (oh, there’s a little romance too) was kind of like eating an asparagus-flavored cupcake.

BUT, there are flashbacks to those promised scenes of London in the ‘80s and ‘90s, where our hoarding heroine was present for the wedding of Charles and Diana as well as the princess’s funeral. I enjoyed her first-hand perspective of those events. I also found the book to be easily readable with some interesting secondary characters. That makes me curious to see what this author will come up with next. While I hope it’s not something as mundane as a vanilla cupcake, maybe it’ll be a little sweeter?

I received an advance copy to read and review from Wyatt-MacKenzie Publishing via NetGalley. A House Full of Windsor’s anticipated publication date is July 13, 2021.

PUBLISHER SYNOPSIS:

Spanning from 1980s London and the royal wedding of a century to a present-day reality TV show, A House Full of Windsor explores how one woman's messy past shapes her family's future.

Sarah Percy's career depends on New Yorkers taking her household advice as gospel. "Sarah Says" used to be the most popular segment on the city's top morning show, but ratings are down and it looks like Sarah might not have a tip for everything, after all... especially when her mother gets involved.

Debbie Windsor, Sarah's mother, is a shopaholic and compulsive hoarder, a secret Sarah has worked tirelessly to hide her entire life. Debbie was always fascinated by royalty, but when her real-life love story started to parallel Princess Diana's, she turned to collecting royal souvenirs to fill the void. Leaving her husband's native England and relocating the family to her hometown in Pennsylvania doesn't help the situation, and two decades later the house is a royal mess. Debbie's safety is on the line, but she brushes off any attempts her family makes to help.

When Sarah's brother gets a job on Stuff, a TV show about compulsive hoarding, he nominates their mother for an episode and promises his famous sister's participation. Backed into a corner, Sarah and Debbie agree, but everyone has something at stake whether the episode does or doesn't go off without a hitch. With both family and romantic relationships on the line - including the connection between Sarah and the show's sexy host, and Debbie's budding romance with a local shopkeeper - long-buried secrets and resentment must come to the surface for the family to move on.