Diary of a Hoarder's Daughter: A diary of dealing with an extreme hoarder written with honesty and humour. Paperback – June 7, 2014

Wow! I started reading this because my mother has hoarding tendencies. My grandmother is a hoarder and I have helped empty 2 of her houses. I have a basement full of stuff that I need to pitch because I don't want to be a hoarder too. I was hoping this book would give me some insight or help, but it wasn't about that. It was about her dealing with her father the hoarder, coming to realize things about her father and her mother and her childhood. It was more of a reflection. I don't want to say I enjoyed the book, but I did a little. It hit close to home for me, which was a good thing, but was also a little stressful for me. Overall, a good read. Thought provoking and inspirational for me to be more like her and less like our hoarder parents.

We have a family member that is a hoarder and, others that were frustratingly close to it. I do believe that we all have hoarder tendencies deep down inside of us. Most though can control the beast! Personally, I am a collector of a few select things. Good book. Great insight.

A paragraph from the book:"'Dad, we need to get rid of some stuff so they’ll let you come home...’ I tailed off deciding that to attempt to continue the conversation would be totally and utterly futile. I wanted to hit him with a big stick. Luckily I couldn’t find one. "The author's anger and frustration at the situation, as shown above, is a very recurring theme through the book. As she grew up, the hoarded piles through the house also grew, along with the author's serious (and potentially related) health issues. The author feels that the home situation lead to mental health issues for her mother, and her mother's premature passing as well.Given the above, the author's increasing frustration and irritation at cleaning up a mess (understatement) that she did not create is understandable. Her father's stubborn refusal to acknowledge the problem, or the effort she's putting into the house so he can come home also grates on her nerves.If you're looking for a book on hoarding solutions, this is not it. If you're looking for a book on the psychology behind hoarding and how to treat it, this is also not the book for you.If you're looking for a book about a woman thrown into a situation she clearly doesn't want to be in, who wrote a diary to try to keep her sanity in the process, this may be the book for you.She's not trying to fix her father, as a lifetime of hoarding can't be easily fixed. She just wants to make the home enough that he can come home, instead of her house, after his hospital stay. I appreciate that as much as she hates the clutter (again, understatement) she is still respectful enough to go through things carefully and mindfully. If you know a hoarder, you know how difficult this can be, valuables tucked in amid pure trash and heirlooms that look like junk.It saddens me that as concerned she is with her mother, brother, and own mental and physical health, her tone seems to be dismissive of her father's. Her anger at the situation and how he treats her allows for little sympathy for him, though she is protective when the television crew arrived and more sensitive to his others treat him.The writing and editing are both sound. The author's tone ranges from angry to martyrdom, which can be attributed to the diary nature of the book. She does admit that she comes off as aggressive and sarcastic, coping mechanisms that are somewhat less than healthy. I hope both she and her father find some peace.

This is a well put together story of a daughter trying to respect her father's life and what her father needs while balancing her own sanity and life....This was an interesting read, from the perspective of parent as well as child. Reading brought up childhood memories of piles, though no where near as mountainous (only 2-3 ft in corners at times), still large none-the-less... I did have to take a break a couple times from reading because the inner stress it was churning up. Thank God for EFT tapping to get through and get rid of the rehashed anxiety/other emotions!!!!!!!!! While I have been accused of piling stuff up by my offspring (usually just handfuls of small stuff and extra books on shelves and papers on desks), it is no where near as bad as what I grew up with. In a way, this book has been a way to let go of negative stuff and heal via EFT tapping while reading....The other thing this book brought up for me was what I read between the lines about the father. He is a narcissist. A narcissist is absorbed with himself, discusses only himself, thinks only of himself, feels entitled to be served, nearly impossible to be pleased, twists all blame off self, can "clearly" never be in the wrong, and practically never apologize except perhaps to say they are sorry you are offended by the way they are. They are the only one qualified for "xyz". No one EVER "listens to them".... I know exactly how the daughter feels. This is something I have only in the last year been learning about. It is an extremely revealing topic and explains so much about certain people... and 99.99% of the time they can't be changed as it is a mental state. It is difficult to protect oneself from them. You either "kiss up" and please them as much as possible without "rocking the boat" or get blasted for not bowing to their dictates. Neither are healthy...so sometimes getting space away from them...some narcissist survivors call it a "no contact" policy... is the only way to preserve sanity. There are blogs and support groups for this situation as well. (See my comment below.)...Anyone that thinks the daughter was disrespectful has never dealt with a narcissist. I did not see her as complaining...just venting facts that frustrated her, which I consider healthy. Relationships need to have mutual respect and common courtesy, with interest, understanding, and kindness flowing both ways to be healthy (all foreign concepts to narcissists).

I read this partly because my sister and I just handled a similar situation. Fortunately our Mom just hoarded paper. Primarily not newspapers though, we were lucky there. But from 1978 when our Dad died until 2018, Mom kept every card, every letter, every grocery list along with the grocery store flyer and the receipt from the grocery store sometimes with the prices of items cross referenced. We too had to look at each piece of paper, many containing our SSN and or our dates of birth, etc. Anyway it was an interesting, compelling, read. Thanks to the author

This book is spellbinding. The condition of hoarding fascinates me. It must be so hard And frustrating to live with a hoarder. Isabell writes a fantastic account of how it is in the world of a hoarded and I just couldn’t put this book down. I now understand a but more about this condition but it still mysterious. Only if you have lived with it can you fully understand. This Story is sad but also funny in places and easy to read. Isobel is so brave. Having to cope with this and continuing to work and bringing up her children’s and still cope and look after her father and brothers interests has not been easy but I admire her immensely. A strong women with an amazing story. Read this book it’s an amazing story. Thank you for the enlightenment. Stay strong Isabelle you are amazing.

I can honestly say that although I "enjoyed" this book, I was entirely sympathetic with Izabelle Winter's dilemma of how to deal with a compulsive in-denial hoarder without hitting them with a stick occasionally! I completely understood Izabelle Winter's trauma of having to deal with a hoarder's living conditions because my brother was in a similar situation about 5 years ago and my Sisters and I had to sift through our parents ruined possessions trying to salvage something/anything from the wreckage, sure in the knowledge that as soon as we had finished it would begin again. Her father (or Imelda as we came to know him) was so awful to her at times that I did not know whether to laugh or cry and I thank her for writing this book so openly and honestly so that others are aware of the condition and can at least come out the other side fairly intact as she has. (not to Author : Did your father every read this wonderful Diary and then put it on a precarious pile to topple over and hit him on the head someday I wonder?!).

You don't have to like or dislike the style of writing but the grit that this author displays is truly astonishing. What a woman. I bough this book after stumbling upon and buying her other book. So happy to be able to support her albeit in a small way but buying this book.Knocked a star off for writing style and lots of repetition. But content was engaging, made you frustrated with both her father and with her - not a bad thing if an author can elicit that in a person; but the style is really a small thing. Buy this for the content, its interesting reading.

Having read her book, about her time in a call centre, her personality struck a chord with me so chose to read this book about her father the horder, really felt for her just wish she was someone I could talk her problems over with a cup of tea, not that the problems would disappear, but at least she knew she had people supporting her. She manages to write this book with humour and yes love for her insufferable father, hope one day she can look on this with humour she certainly has, but she deserves a medal for clearly not losing the love she has for her father. Well written and doesn't destroy her father's personality throughout it all, which is a miracle in itself.

This book gives us an excellent insight to living and coping or not coping with a hoarders lifestyle. It's funny in places , Izabelle has the knack of bringing humour although not always intended into the situation .The fact that her father's hoarding had such an effect on the rest of the family but he couldn't see it. It must have been very un nerving to find things in the house you thought you'd thrown away as a teenager! Why on earth would anyone keep old tights ???Sensitively written , Izabelle is very protective of her father and brother , this book is not written to take the mickey out of the situation but to on cast some light over it .