Well written stories. ( )

This was a delightful book to read on a Sunday afternoon! I enjoyed hearing about the author's various jobs (mostly as a housecleaner), and what she's learned along the way about her writing and herself. ( )

I really enjoyed this book! A great book for all aspiring writers, and housekeepers :) ( )

Riffing off the title of Virginia Woolf’s A Room of One’s Own (which essentially says that to write well, women must have their own lives), this short collection of light essays weaves twice-published novelist Peacock’s work cleaning houses with ruminations on writing.

It’s fast, interesting and inspiring, particularly to mainstream readers and beginning writers. But it feels older than having been published in 2008, and it doesn’t bring originality or new insight to shelves already crowded with famous writers’ books on writing. And it’s surprisingly angry; Peacock is annoyed by cleaning tasks and by clients, readers, publishers, other writers and other workers.

Recommended as a light diversion. If writerly memoir or advice is desired, my shortlist includes any Paris Review interview; Anne Lamott’s Bird by Bird; Stephen King’s On Writing; or Elizabeth Berg’s Escaping into the Open. ( )

A mix of soul searching and humor, this memoir is delightful. An honest and open view into the life of a published but still struggling writer, it is also a witty commentary on the diverse lifestyles of Peacock's housekeeping clients. Her quick mind never stops examining and assessing her internal and external worlds.

Peacock needs to find a balance between a life of supporting her material needs and the passion to write. She struggles with various approaches to earning money as well as resolving writer's issues. For example, after trying to establish a routine and find the best time of the day to write, Peacock settles on early morning. "It helps to get up earlier than my conscious mind, and I like writing first thing, when I am closest to my dream state."

All writers dream of where they would ideally like to do their writing. Daydreaming over a client's office as her own, Peacock plays an "imagination game" from where she would put her writing materials on his spacious desk to making her cat "miraculously well-behaved... and never lying on my papers again."

There is much contemplation packed into this light-hearted yet serious book. The section at the end "Writing Advice From the Author" almost inspires me to give it a try someday. Writing comes down from its ivory tower and becomes accessible to anyone - even (maybe especially) a housecleaner! Recommended for reading fun if nothing else. ( )