A Broom of One's Own

January 14, 2008
As a struggling writer, novelist Peacock (Life
Without Water
) took all kinds of jobs to support herself, fantasizing about the day she'd be published and could write full-time. But after two critically acclaimed novels, not only could she not afford to quit cleaning houses for a living, she wasn't sure she wanted to. She hadn't yet developed the confidence, “the strong foundation,” to write full-time, and cleaning houses provided her with “the two things writers love more than anything else... solitude and gossip.” But Peacock offers an honest and refreshing look at what life is like for most writers, few of whom can expect to crack the bestseller lists or make it to Oprah's Book Club. She also offers an insider's look at housecleaning that may lead readers to start cleaning their own houses or, at least, be more careful about the messes they leave for their cleaning people. Peacock no longer cleans houses for a living (it began to wear her down physically); now she supplements her income by teaching. If you can't make it to North Carolina for one of her classes, she offers plenty of useful lessons here.

April 1, 2008
Peacock's ("Life Without Water") charming and funny essay collection is part memoir, part writing advice. While pursuing her writing career, Peacock has alternately worked as a house cleaner, a bartender, and a baker. But it is housekeeping that offers her the mix of "solitude and gossip" she requires. We learn that, even with a successful first novel and an advance for a second, Peacock still needed to earn a living cleaning houses. "I was the novelist Peacock, who chased other people's pubic hair down drains," she writes. Peacock's struggles as a writer (and with getting hardened jelly off the floor) will be familiar to readers, many of whom will wish they could write as well, and with as much graceful humor as she does. And while she's great at tossing out laugh-aloud zingers, Peacock also shares her revelation that housework (much to her horror) liberated her to be a better writer. Each chapter focuses on a house she is cleaning, the people in that house, and how those elements combine to inform her writing. Readers will never look at a vacuum cleaner the same way again. Recommended for all public libraries and collections that support writing programs.Susan L. Peters, Univ. of Texas, Galveston

Copyright 2008 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

February 15, 2008
The life of an artist may sound glamorous and thrilling, but Peacocks life is quite the opposite. Despite having two novels published, Peacock still has to work to keep a roof over her head and she chooses to do so by cleaning houses. Being alone all day gives her time to reflect on her writing and create new stories. When shes outed as the writing maid in the National Enquirer, she begins to think about what defines her: writing or housecleaning. In this collection of essays, Peacock describes the mundane details of her life and the glimpses into the lives of others that she gleans while scrubbing toilets and vacuuming carpets. She then weaves her observations with advice and reflections on writing to create an unusual mix. Peacocks unconventional approach to work, story, and writing in her honest, conversational, down-to-earth essays proves that art can be accessible to anyone regardless of age, occupation, or level of education. Readers and aspiring novelists will identify with Peacocks Everywoman and Everyman point-of-view.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2008, American Library Association.)