Publisher's Synopsis
A bicycle in wartime. A chainstore armchair. A velvet jacket. A stone from a distant beach.
Some of our strongest, longest lasting relationships are hidden in plain view-the relationships we have with the objects we own. What do our possessions do for us? And how do they do it?
In The Promise of Things, Ruth Quibell explores how our possessions can speak to us and about us: who we think we are, what we long for, struggle against, or hope to remember. It an invitation to think deeply about how we use the things we own, and what makes them trivial or significant, burdensome or enlivening, throwaway or enduring.
The Promise of Things is neither an apology for excess nor a manual for minimalism. Instead it seeks a more ambitious ideal: an intelligent life with things.
