Found and Lost: Mittens, Miep, and Shovelfuls of Dirt

In this haunting memoir, Alison Gold gives a luminous account of key moments in her life that brought her to be the writer she is.

Alison Leslie Gold is best known for her works that have kept alive stories from the time of the Holocaust, stories of courage and survival - most famously her Anne Frank Remembered, co-authored with Miep Gies (who risked her life to protect the Frank family).

She has never chosen to write about her own life or what made her into a gatherer of other people's stories, until now, in Found and Lost, a tender memorial to the extraordinary people in the author's life, and a compelling tale of redemption.

Starting with her childhood experience of running her primary school 'Lost and Found' depot, Gold develops, through a series of letters, a meditation on ageing, friendship, loss and the forces that link us to the dead. They tell of her early activism, her descent into alcoholism and her recovery, and her discovery of the power of writing to give a shape and meaning to a life. In the very act of writing, she begins to find a route out of depression and grief.