Lost and Found : 9 Life-Changing Lessons about Stuff from Someone Who Lost Everything

'Helen goes deeper than the decluttering trends to ask why we buy and keep things. This book is full of practical wisdom!' - Bryony Gordon, author of Mad Girl

An exploration into why we keep holding on to material things and what they mean to us

On New Year's Eve of 2018, journalist Helen Chandler-Wilde lost everything she owned in a storage unit fire in Croydon, where she'd stowed all her possessions after a big break-up. She was left devastated, and forced to re-evaluate her relationship with owning material things.

A mix of memoir, self-help and journalism, Lost & Found explores the psychological reasons for why we buy and keep the things we do, and explains how we can liberate ourselves from the tyranny of 'too much'. Helen interviews people from all walks of life, including behavioural psychologists on the science of nostalgia, a nun on what it's like to own almost nothing and consumer psychologists on why we spend impulsively, to help us better understand why we're surrounded by clutter and what we can do to change it.

This smart-thinking book explains the sociological quirks of human nature and the fascinating science behind why we buy and hold onto things. By the end of it, your relationship with your belongings will be changed forever.

Helen Chandler-Wilde is a news and features journalist at Bloomberg. Previously she worked at The Telegraph writing long-reads, analysis and covering the human tales behind the headlines. She went to UCL where she studied social sciences and Italian and also holds a MA in journalism from City University. Helen lives in south London, and in her free time she likes to read, cook and rummage through charity shops.

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