Cast as the scapegoat of her family since she was a rebellious teen, 32-year-old Maurene, now starting a family of her own, buys her childhood home from her parents, determined to clean out decades of her father’s hoarded trash and create a safe space to raise her 10-month-old daughter with her husband, Scott.

But this house has never been safe for Maurene. Her father’s rage and dumpster finds took priority, and Maurene was blamed for his unpredictable outbursts. Caught between a family narrative that denies her father’s hoarding at her expense and her own truth buried beneath all his trash, Maurene sets out to clear the house and her name, and to create a new family legacy with Scott.

Behind Closed Doors is a memoir in progress that explores the destructive nature of family secrets, what it means to create a physically and emotionally safe home, and how reclaiming one’s narrative helps create a solid foundation for the next generation.