Trading in Memories

“In a time when words like ‘charming’ and ‘quirky’ are frequently and undeservedly used to describe bland chick-lit heroines and actresses, Barbara Hodgson’s exploration of curious and cast-off items truly merits the adjectives. …Trading in Memories is an eminently entertaining journey, thanks to Hodgson’s authentic engagement with the lives and places she encounters.”

Trading in Memories

“As always, [Hodgson] evocatively intertwines her design and verbal skills. …Readers will find themselves tripping along after her, charmed as she picks up a long-ago discarded passport and half-imagines, half-explains the travels that the document surely knew. …Highly recommended for armchair travel and material culture collections.” ****Starred Review ****

Trading in Memories

“Hodgson’s published work is a rich blend of fluid writing, captivating illustration and memorable characters in obscure situations. She writes and designs her books, and they are typically brimming with the unexpected. ... This time, with Trading in Memories, she invites us into her imagination and adds significantly to our understanding of how it works. …Like many of her previous books, Trading in Memories is a striking combination of compelling writing about places off the beaten track and illustrations of various kinds that bring the subject to life. It’s part travel journal and partly a manual for seeking ‘the irretrievably obscure’.”

Trading in Memories

“Hodgson’s thing encompasses a healthy respect for reusing and recycling; you could even say her career has been built upon these principles. Reduction, however, holds no appear for this novelist, travel historian, and graphic artist. Instead, she’s all about accumulation. Hodgson loves the restless quest for the interesting image, object, or anecdote, and she’s never happier than when touring the souks and flea markets of the world.”

Trading in Memories

“Vancouver’s Barbara Hodgson, who’s as adept with images as she is with words, shows off her finds in Trading in Memories.”

Trading in Memories

“…how many times have you read something so vivid and in-the-moment and transporting that you were forced to put the book down and stare into space in order to let your conscious mind catch up with the scenario reverberating on the page? Bet you can count those moments using fingers along, unless you’re… a fan of Barbara Hodgson, whose books are virtual gateways to daydreams. …Hodgson drops readers into palpable netherworlds with exquisite storytelling and accompanying images. Imaging that – books with pictures for grown-ups! It may be a simple formula, but it’s Hodgson’s and it works like a charm every time. …it’s difficult to overstate [the book’s] impact, [and] …you can’t help but be astonished by the bizarre factoids and tidbits of history Hodgson unearths as she moves between makeshift stalls…”

Trading in Memories

“[Hodgson] is one of those few gifted people on the planet who can combine beautiful writing with luscious art to create treasured, memorable books. If you don't know about her work, well, you should find out. A good place to start is by reading Barbara's new book, Trading in Memories…”

Trading in Memories

"Whether as creative sparks for a new project or critical components to a work-in-progress, everything Hodgson uncovers becomes a source for some literary project. As lushly illustrated as all of her other works, Trading in Memories is a beautiful book that enlightens as to the working of a writer’s mind while also serving as something lovely to page through."

Read more of Colleen Mondor's review here.

Trading in Memories

“In Trading in Memories [Hodgson] takes us on a tour of the world’s flea markets, where she finds oth inspiration and the materials she uses in her illustrations. This book is a treasury of bric-a-brac…”

Trading in Memories

“Like Marcel Proust, Canadian writer Barbara Hodsgon lives in a world of memories. Where Proust used tea and a small cake, Hodgson uses bric-a-brac. …This is sensory travel where the most inconsequential objects are treasured because they evoke memories and sensations. …Each chapter reads like a perfectly constructed short story and …the reader, swept along by Hodgson’s passion, wants to gaze at every object she describes.”