The life of stuff - Susannah Walker

Shortlisted for the James Tait Black biography prize 2019
'A moving memoir.' Sunday Times
'Gripped me from the first page.' Clover Stroud, author of My Wild and Sleepless Nights
'A gripping read... a riveting piece of writing.' Radio 4
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What do our possessions say about us? Why do we project such meaning onto them? What becomes of the things we leave behind?

Only
after her mother's death does Susannah Walker discover how much of a
hoarder she had become. Over the following months, Susannah has to sort
through a dilapidated house filled to the brim with rubbish and
treasures - filling bag after bag with possessions. But what she's
really in search of is a woman she'd never really known or understood in
life. This is her last chance to piece together her mother's story and
make sense of their troubled relationship.

What
emerges from the mess of scattered papers, discarded photographs and an
extraordinary amount of stuff is the history of a sad and fractured
family, haunted by dead children, divorce and alcohol. The Life of Stuff
is a deeply personal exploration of mourning and the shoring up of
possessions against the losses and griefs of life, which also raises
universal questions about what makes us the people we are.
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'Compelling and moving.' Ruth Hogan

'An excellent memoir.' Cathy Rentzenbrink