{"product_id":"9781784163303","title":"The Life of Stuff : Possessions, obsessions and the mess we leave behind by Susannah Walker","description":"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__________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.   __________'Compelling and moving.' Ruth Hogan'An excellent memoir.' Cathy Rentzenbrink\u003cbr\u003eBinding: Paperback \/ softback","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56304981442933,"sku":"9781784163303","price":14.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9781784163303.jpg?v=1762796637","url":"https:\/\/backstory.london\/products\/9781784163303","provider":"Backstory","version":"1.0","type":"link"}