It’s Complicated

A mosaic of human connections in all their shades – from breaking up to making out, quiet contentment to agonising loneliness, sexting to ghosting, friendships to ‘fuckboys’, pregnancy loss to profound fulfilment. ‘🤌' – Maya Jama ‘Utterly fascinating’ – Bernardine Evaristo ‘Dolly Alderton for people who don’t just do missionary’ – Anon ‘Obsessed’ – Diana Vickers If you’ve ever checked your ex’s social media at 2am – or their new partner’s LinkedIn (because it’s the only social profile you can access) – or if everyone thinks you’re the perfect couple but you’ve been drifting apart for years – then you’ve probably felt a smarting of shame. But let me tell you something radical: your darkest secrets, your most repulsively shameful thoughts, feelings, and behaviours: you’re not alone. Featuring 250 real-life anonymous submissions, this book peels back the layers of modern relationships. These aren’t love stories – they’re stories about love.

Philippa Found is a London based artist, curator and writer focusing on the female experience. She is the creator of Lockdown Love Stories, which emerged during the early days of the pandemic, aiming to dissolve the isolation that gripped us all. Through anonymous submissions, people shared their unfiltered stories. It grew beyond the shadows, featuring in large-scale street exhibitions across the TfL network and earning an award from the London Mayor. She is herself an accomplished writer having won awards for short stories: including the Bath Short Story Award and Short Fiction Prize. She has also published a three-part non-fiction book which was nominated for the Feminism and Women’s Studies Book award in 2011. Found has curated multiple art exhibitions in the UK and served as director of ROLLO Contemporary Art for six years.