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. How else can one describe the scene in which Hodgson digs through a garbage can in Aleppo, Syria, looking for housing deeds from the 1930s and ’40s, or the one in which she sneaks around alleys and main streets after dusk in Naples to tear posters off walls?

Hodgson, the author of illustrated novels such as The Lives of Shadows and The Sensualist, is an impassioned lover of life’s detritus – playing cards tucked into cast-off books, old newspapers, long-expired IOU notes – because she sees in them clues to fascinating lives and connections to times past. Her searches for such items in flea markets and out-of-the-way corners of cities both far (Stanley, Falkland Islands, and Marrakech, Morocco) and near (Vancouver) form a brilliant frame for her travel narrative.

It’s a breezy read, and Hodgson’s confident voice trips lightly through the many anecdotes and items found in each place. True to form, she includes many illustrations, ranging from journal pages to pictures of the found items. Trading in Memories is an eminently entertaining journey, thanks to Hodgson’s authentic engagement with the lives and places she encounters.