The Fixer Upper - Review

The Fixer Upper
A Novel

By Mary Kay Andrews

The delightful New York Times bestselling author returns with a hilarious novel about one woman's quest to redo an old house . . . and her life.

After her boss in a high-powered Washington public relations firm is caught in a political scandal, fledgling lobbyist Dempsey Jo Killebrew is left almost broke, unemployed, and homeless. Out of options, she reluctantly accepts her father's offer to help refurbish Birdsong, the old family place he recently inherited in Guthrie, Georgia. All it will take, he tells her, is a little paint and some TLC to turn the fading Victorian mansion into a real-estate cash cow.
But, oh, is Dempsey in for a surprise when she arrives in Guthrie. "Bird Droppings" would more aptly describe the moldering Pepto Bismol–pink dump with duct-taped windows and a driveway full of junk. There's also a murderously grumpy old lady, one of Dempsey's distant relations, who has claimed squatter's rights and isn't moving out. Ever.
Furthermore, everyone in Guthrie seems to know Dempsey's business, from a smooth-talking real-estate agent to a cute lawyer who owns the local newspaper. It wouldn't be so bad if it weren't for the pesky FBI agents who show up on Dempsey's doorstep, hoping to pry information about her ex-boss from her.
All Dempsey can do is roll up her sleeves and get to work. And before long, what started as a job of necessity somehow becomes a labor of love and, ultimately, a journey that takes her to a place she never expected—back home again.

The Fixer Upper isn't usually the type of book I would read. I'm a murder mystery kind of girl. I like the suspense and to be on the edge of my seat the whole time wondering who did it. Despite all of that, despite the fact that this is definitely not that kind of book, I just could not put it down.

I got so caught up in Dempsey's story, the fixing up of the house, the mean old great-aunt, the love story, the betrayal. I felt connected to her somehow, connected to that house. I could really almost picture it, Mary Kay described it so well.

The Fixer Upper is available in hardcover format for $25.99 at Haper Collins.