Lisa Woollett

This is a fascinating, interesting and beautiful book to read. It has stylish photographs of some of her beach and river-side finds. Although many of these could be described as junk, she arranges them creatively either with a plain background or among pebbles and covered in sand. I found these photographs engrossing. Lisa Woollett's writing too held my interest. She tells the history of London from the perspective of her own ancestors, many of them scavengers for waste and working on the banks of the Thames. She tells the story of these histories through her own experiences of different mudlarking trips along the river and passes on her enthusiasm for the finds she exposes. Her grandfather was a dustman and she travels to the Isle of Sheppey where historic landfill sites are revealing the rubbish of the post-war era. Moving forward in time she beachcombs on Cornish beaches near her home, having no difficulty finding fragments of plastic. She walks the line between entertaining and informative well, adding information about climate change and resource over-use with her family stories and making this a book that is both personal and relatable. A great read.… (more)