Eve had always been led to believe that a person’s success in life could be measured by the size of house they lived in. ‘The bigger, the better!’ people said and, although she had never fully agreed with this, it had still taken her a long time to decide to downsize.
‘But your house is so gorgeous!’ her friend, Alice, had gasped when she announced her news. ‘How can you give it up?’
Eve had simply shrugged and told Alice she was looking forward to getting rid of stuff, emptying cupboards, throwing out rubbish and recycling work clothes she would never wear again.
Alice sipped her coffee. ‘Well, don’t be too hasty with what you throw out, babes – if you decide you no longer need your cashmere jumpers or leather boots, for example…’
Eve laughed. ‘Don’t worry, Alice – you can have first refusal on anything that’s going.’
It seemed extreme, but at the age of 55, Eve wanted to get rid of everything that was weighing her down in life, to free herself. Emptying the house
