Life on the Refrigerator Door

Alice Kuipers Debut Novel About a Mother and Daughter Relationship

Jan 1, 2008

Notes left on the refrigerator door take on new meaning for a mother and daughter when their world is suddenly changed by an event that neither of them anticipated.

A lot can be learned from notes. Life on the Refrigerator Door is a novel told entirely in a series of notes a mother and daughter leave each other on the kitchen fridge. The notes range from casual, intimate, funny, and angry, but it is the sum of them that tells the intricate story of a mother and daughter’s relationship.

Short and Sometimes Sweet

The novel is 240 pages, each page with a single note on it. The notes range in length from a word or two, a sentence, and, occasionally, a paragraph. They usually consist of the daily reminders a parent gives to a daughter or son – don’t forget your house key, clean out the pet’s cage, good luck on your test – although a grocery list occasionally appears as well.

Fifteen year old Claire and her divorced single mother each tell their story within these notes. Preoccupied with their own busy lives, Claire and her mom are rarely in the same room at the same time. They are reduced to communicate by way of these notes, a series of snippets that reflect the daily drama that makes up their days. School, work, friends, boyfriends and chores are all featured prominently in the notes. Claire complains about allowance and having to go to the grocery store yet again in the freezing cold without gloves; her mom, an ob/gyn, gets called in to the hospital for an emergency delivery of triplets. Their notes reflect the monotony, their relationship, and reflections on in person conversations the mother and daughter have.

A Sudden Crisis Changes Everything

The monotony soon breaks when a crisis overtakes the women’s lives — a momentous change that will redefine their relationship and unfold in their exchanges on the refrigerator door. Suddenly the notes take on new meaning, the grocery lists scribbled on the list suddenly of paramount importance. Neither is prepared for the change that rocks their placid, if hectic, lives, and their reactions markedly change the way that they interact with each other.

About the Author

Kuipers was born in London, England, and now lives in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. She graduated from Manchester Metropolitan University, and has published short stories in literary magazines and produced for CBC radio. Life on the Refrigerator Door is her first novel.

The copyright of the article Life on the Refrigerator Door in Chick Lit is owned by Teresa Shaw. Permission to republish Life on the Refrigerator Door in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.