They Left Us Everything: A Memoir

Winner of the 2015 RBC Taylor Prize
Winner of the 2016 Forest of Reading® Evergreen Award™ 

#1 NATIONAL BESTSELLER

A warm, heartfelt memoir of family, loss, and a house jam-packed with decades of memories.

After almost twenty years of caring for elderly parents--first for their senile father, and then for their cantankerous ninety-three-year old mother--author Plum Johnson and her three younger brothers have finally fallen to their knees with conflicted feelings of grief and relief. Now they must empty and sell the beloved family home, 23 rooms bulging with history, antiques, and oxygen tanks. Plum thought: How tough will that be? I know how to buy garbage bags.
     But the task turns out to be much harder and more rewarding than she ever imagined. Items from childhood trigger difficult memories of her eccentric family growing up in the 1950s and '60s, but unearthing new facts about her parents helps her reconcile those relationships, with a more accepting perspective about who they were and what they valued.
They Left Us Everything is a funny, touching memoir about the importance of preserving family history to make sense of the past, and nurturing family bonds to safeguard the future.

About the Author :
PLUM JOHNSON is an award-winning author, artist, and entrepreneur living in Toronto. She was the founder of KidsCanada Publishing Corp., publisher of KidsToronto, and co-founder of Help's Here! resource magazine for seniors and caregivers. The author lives in Toronto, ON.

Review :
Shortlisted for the 2015 Kobo Emerging Writer Prize for Non-Fiction
Longlisted for the 2015 Leacock Medal for Humour

“A poetic meditation on aging, grief and filial responsibility.”
—The Globe and Mail

“Johnson is a compelling, sharp, and insightful storyteller. There is not a false note in the book. . . . Johson can make you laugh and cry on the same page. She handles an emotionally draining subject with compassion and grace.”
—CBC

"At times heartbreaking and at others hysterically funny. . . . The book's descriptive prose brings [the] places and people to life and poignantly conveys the quasi-spiritual journey that helps Johnson overcome her grief.”
—Publishers Weekly

“Generous and heartfelt . . . an uplifting affirmation of human relationships and the cycle of life itself. A warmly candid memoir of navigating family, aging, and death.”
—Kirkus Reviews

“Beautifully observed and written with great warmth and wit. . . . A story of love, loss, and legacy, written with compassion and humour.”
—RBC Taylor Prize jury citation

“The kind of slim, unassuming memoir that hits you deep in the gut. . . . Amid the scraps of paper left in jacket pockets, family photos and pieces of furniture, part of the ‘everything’ our parents leave us with are our memories of them, good and bad. Perhaps figuring out what to do with them is as close to a manual for grief as we get.”
—National Post

“Plum Johnson's glorious childhood home is almost a character in its own right. Both house and family are flawed and spectacular.”
—Catherine Gildiner, author of Too Close to the Falls and After the Falls

“Anyone who has packed up the family home after a parent's death will fall in love with this charming book. An all-too-human, funny, and poignant tale of saying goodbye.”
—Susan Swan, author of The Wives of Bath and The Western Light

“An honest and revealing look at what makes an old family home more than just walls and a roof . . . [Johnson] expoxses the complexity and connectivity of family relationships.”
—Iain Reid, author of I'm Thinking of Ending Things and The Truth About Luck

“An absorbing memoir told with unflinching truty, humour, and great tenderness.”
—Jane Christmas, author of Open House: A Life in Thirty-Two Moves

“Johnson writes with clarity, wit and a powerful descriptive voice that makes the rambling family home she moves back into for 16 weeks a character in itself.”
—NOW Toronto

“A fascinating and delightful story – a satisfying and thought-provoking book.”
—The Parry Sound North Star

“A lovely memoir."
—Maclean's

“Each word of They Left Us Everything is heartfelt and moving. We are privy to Johnson's emtional journey to the point that it feels like she is part of our own family. Her story lingers inside, touching the soul.”
—news4u.net

“[Johnson] takes you along on a journey that is emotional, humourous, and candid.”
—Newstalk 1010