Everything Must Go

By: Camille Pagán

Narrated by: Amy McFadden, Laural Merlington

A warm, wry novel about secrets, second chances, and the unbreakable bonds between mothers, daughters, and sisters by the #1 Amazon Charts bestselling author of Life and Other Near-Death Experiences.

Laine Francis believes there’s a place for everything—and New York, where her family lives, isn’t her place. But no sooner does the professional organizer’s marriage begin to unravel than her sisters drop another bomb on her: their mother, Sally, may have dementia, and they need Laine to come home.

Laine agrees to briefly return to Brooklyn. After all, bringing order to chaos is what she does best. To Laine’s relief, Sally seems no more absentminded than usual. So Laine vows to help her mother maintain her independence, then hightail it back to Michigan.

Except Laine’s plans go awry when she runs into her former best friend, Ben, and realizes she finally has a chance to repair their fractured relationship. Then she discovers that memory loss isn’t the only thing Sally’s been hiding, forcing Laine to decide whether to reveal a devastating truth to her sisters—and whether to follow her heart when it means breaking her mother’s.

©2022 Camille Pagán (P)2022 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved.

Critic reviews

“Brought vividly to life in a true 'theatre of the mind' experience by the narrative talents of Amy McFadden and Laural Merlington, Everything Must Go is author Camille Pagan's warm, wry, and original novel about secrets, second chances, and the unbreakable bonds between mothers, daughters, and sisters.” —Midwest Book Review

“The dual narrations—Laine's and her mother's—are key to the story. McFadden expresses Laine's emotions perfectly in every situation, while Merlington plays the part of a mother who is not so sure that her mind is working properly. Both carry the tone of the story from lighthearted to serious and contemplative with expert grace.” —Booklist

“I will not miss a Camille Pagán novel and this is why: the most relatable women between two covers, the most interesting situations, the most satisfyingly emotional outcomes. Everything Must Go has all of that, with a compassionate woman facing the crossroads between two futures, two men, and two cities—and navigating the nuances of her two beautiful, successful, and overbearing sisters all the while. The family secrets keep unfolding and the pages fly by in this moving, bighearted read!” —Kelly Harms, bestselling author of The Seven Day Switch

Very engaging listen!

Great job on many of life's difficult journeys put together in a wonderful story you don't want to stop listening to!

Spineless lead.

The reader's voice had a weird inflection that annoyed me. Spineless female lead. It wasn't what I thought it would be. The story wasn't as deep as I was hoping. Just not for me.

Reader was irritating

The reader had weird pronunciation, especially of the word “said” (sounded like sad), which was used way to often to differentiate speakers. I persevered because the story interested me.

Everything Must Go

There was A LOT about this book I liked from the family relationships to learning to do what is best for yourself and the narration was good. Things not a huge fan of was Josh not wanting to have a baby with his wife of 12 years but getting with her sister who had several kids, I found that relationship weird! I didn't see anything wrong with the mom and felt had they just talked all those years ago the racist things could have been nipped in the bud. I did enjoy the book enough to recommend it!

When the caretaker finally cares for herself.

The voice actors do a fantastic job portraying the practicality, frustration, love, and pathos that bring this story to life. Once again, Camille Pagan takes the minutiae of life lived by "regular" people and guides the readers through the drama happening just next door--or within our own families.

Lane Francis takes her mother's advice and refuses even to entertain turning a lifelong friendship into a romantic one with the boy she's grown to love. Lane burns that bridge, regrets it, secretly blames her mom, and moves out of state. There, she makes a good life for herself. She gets a dog, marries a nice guy, and waits...waits for years for the one thing she's been longing for. Her dream is to have a child of own.

But when her mom starts exhibiting some strange behavior, Lane is called home. It looks like her dream will have to wait even longer.