In their book, the editors Polly Kaiser and Ruth Eley introduce life-story work as an approach to enhance quality of life and quality of care for people living with dementia and their families, as well as to improve work satisfaction for practitioners in the field of dementia care. According to the editors, life-story work is far more than collecting care-relevant information, but is ‘above all, a process that involves having helpful conversations to elict, capture and use stories about a person’ (p. 16). In doing so it can serve as a bridge to the person with dementia and as a tool that enables family and professional carers to provide care in a way that empowers people and values their personhood.

The editors aim at providing their readers with an overview on what is currently known about life-story work from different perspectives – from people with dementia themselves, family carers and professional staff – and across different settings. The book indeed offers a very comprehensive picture of life-story work and provides the reader with profound information and practical adivce on how to adapt the approach to their own circumstances. Whilst the book is clearly written from a UK perspective with a focus on local (care) structures and organisations, the authors succeed in making the contents comprehensible to an audience outside this geographical area by shifting the subject matter to a general theoretical basis.

The book consists of five parts. Part 1, ‘Where Has Life Story Work Come From?’, is dedicated to the theoretical roots and the policy context of life-story work.

Part 2, ‘Does it work?’, addresses a very relevant aspect in times where care concepts and interventions are expected to meet the requirements of evidence-based practice and care. Kate Gridley (Chapter 5, pp. 69–82) considers life-story work to fall within the scope of complex interventions which brings along specific methodological challenges with regard to the evaluation of life-story work. The chapter is focused on the definition and development of adequate outcomes. In Chapter 6 (pp. 83–94), Bob Woods and Ponnusamy Subramaniam give an overview of the available evidence and refer to the latest digital approaches such as apps and software to produce digital formats of life-story books that pose new challenges for evaluative research.

Part 3, ‘Why is it Important?’, highlights the benefits of life-story work from the perspectives of people with demenita, family carers and practitioners; and includes a discussion of potential concerns.

Part 4, ‘How Can We Use It?’, is the most practical section of the book. Eight chapters provide a comprehensive impression of how life-story work is applied in different settings, of its core applications (e.g. end-of-life care), as well as challenges and creative approaches related to life-story work.

Part 5, ‘Where Next?’, offers a broader European perspective by covering a range of innovative life story-related practices implemented in some European countries (Chapter 18 by Marie-Jo Guisset Martinez, pp. 227–36). The book closes with conclusions and a look ahead to what the future might hold for life-story work, written by the editors.

The key strength of this book is definitely its multiperspective angle on life-story work. The book is sprinkled with insights into the lived experience of people with dementia, their families and professional carers, illustrated by direct quotes that make these experiences most emotionally comprehensible to the reader. Reflection points, top tips and a conclusion at the end of each chapter contribute to this. Overall, the authors do not try to sell life-story work as the ultimate approach for the whole population of people with dementia, and there is tacit understanding amongst the authors that life-story work shall not be considered as a one-size-fits-all intervention. Furthermore, concerns, challenges and limitations related to the use and implementation of life-story work are discussed throughout the book.

The book is a valuable resource for anybody interested in life-story work in particular, and person-centred interaction and care for people with dementia in general. It opens a new perspective on, and a deeper understanding for, people living with dementia and their needs, but also their resources and potential for shaping their own care.

Students, no matter whether they are trained for a scientific or practitioner career, and others interested in the topic will gain a broad overview on the current state of research and the state of the art of life-story work in applied dementia care. Researchers are provided with profound estimations of fellow scholars, including the up-do-date literature on life-story work. The book also highlights the challenges in the definition of outcomes and the evaluation of life-story work interventions, but even more valuable, it also suggests alternative approaches to solve these methodological challenges. Practitioners will find helpful advice on how to apply and use life-story work in different settings, and will gain awareness for potential challenges and pitfalls and how to overcome them.