Never Looking at Antique Stores the Same Way Again – My Book Review

WHY STUFF MATTERS

by

JEN WALDO

Sub-genre: Literary Fiction / Humor

Publisher: Arcadia Books

Date of Publication: June 4, 2019 (US)

Number of Pages: 212

 

When Jessica, a grieving widow, inherits an antique mall from her mother she also inherits the stallholders, an elderly, amoral, acquisitive, and paranoid collection. 

 

When one of the vendors, a wily ex-con named Roxy, shoots her ex-husband, she calls on Jessica to help bury the body and soon Jessica is embroiled in cover-ups, lies, and misdirection. Into this mix comes Lizzie, Jessica’s late husband’s twelve-year-old daughter by his first marriage, who’s been dumped on Jessica’s doorstep by the child’s self-absorbed mother and it soon becomes apparent that Lizzie is as obsessed with material possessions as Jessica’s elderly tenants. 

 

Why Stuff Matters is a compelling ode to possession, why people like things and the curious lengths they will go to keep them. Returning to her fictional Caprock, Waldo turns her wry wit on the lives of those afraid to let go.

 

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AMAZONBARNES & NOBLE

“People should give people things to remember them by.”

I emphatically and enthusiastically applaud author, Jen Waldo for crafting a story around old stuff and old people. Jen nails so many things with her character writing, especially of the inherited store owner, Jessica. The writing and the story are picture-perfect with this gem of a short novel.

What did she get right? On a recent, unexpected visit to an antique store with a friend who loves these kinds of stores, I immediately started sneezing. Old stuff, along with West Texas dust makes me sneeze. Then I started remembering passages of Jen’s book. Wondering if a Roxy owned this booth? If there was a guy like Pard amongst the booth owners?  Prices do tell stories. What people collect and love they do not really like getting rid of by the prices they put on items. There are a lot of trinkets and glassware that are still hanging around waiting to find another shelf to sit on. Yes – typewriters are still a thing to be sold. Sadly, there are some items you happen upon that brings back memories.

Some of my photos from that visit…

Mixture of old stuff.

Always will find an old typewriter.

Junk sign says it all.

Why Stuff Matters is much more than just about old things. It is about people – both old and young. The story revolves around mainly Jessica who has recently taken over her mother’s antique store after her own life suffered a double devastating blow. Jessica becomes somewhat of a caretaker to renters who most can barely walk to a young girl dumped on her. The deeper aspect of Jessica is that I can highly relate to her on many levels – especially how she evolved for instance into how she would fret weeks over end about a friend’s foul mood and now not caring.

Most antique items are imbued with mortality bestowed upon them by their owners or the persons selling them.  Why do we keep things? Why are some things more important than others?

The killer genius part of the story – no pun intended – is the unexpected murders and deaths the story is woven around.

Even with my recent visit to a Slaton, Texas antique store – I realize that people need stores like that for their things to sell because people love finding bargains on old stuff. But mostly I realize that I venerate Jen for giving me a story to always remember with a smile every time I visit an antique store.

Thank you, Jen. Thank you, Lone Star Blog Tours for giving me the opportunity to review Why Stuff Matters.

Jen Waldo lived in seven countries over a thirty-year period and has now settled, along with her husband, in Marble Falls, Texas. She first started writing over twenty years ago when, while living in Cairo, she had difficulty locating reading material and realized she’d have to make her own fun. She has since earned an MFA and written a number of novels. Her work has been published in The European and was shortlisted in a competition by Traveler magazine. Old Buildings in North Texas and Why Stuff Matters have been published in the UK by Arcadia Books. Jen’s fiction is set in Northwest Texas and she’s grateful to her hometown of Amarillo for providing colorful characters and a background of relentless whistling wind. 

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