Why read The Life of Stuff?

Book cover of The Life of Stuff

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Shortlisted for the James Tait Black biography prize 2019

'This extraordinary, beautiful memoir gripped me from the first page.' Clover Stroud, author of The Wild Other

What do our possessions say about us? Why do we project such meaning onto them?

Only after her mother's death does Susannah Walker…

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Why read it?

1 author picked The Life of Stuff as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

Ruth Badley

Author

In the aftermath of a parent’s death, sifting through their possessions is a necessary but painful rite of passage. It can feel overwhelming and confrontational, especially if the relationship was difficult, as is the case here.

I loved how the author highlights specific objects from the detritus of her mother’s hoarding to piece together the hurts and distress of a woman she hardly knew. A complex mother and daughter story that comments authoritatively on the psychology behind hoarding and raises important questions about our material world and what our possessions reveal about our interior life.

I have written about some…

From Ruth's list on The best memoirs about troubled families and the secrets they keep.