I Imagined It Empty was inspired by several pictures the author had taken of her mother in 2017, briefly before she passed away. "My mother rarely let me photograph her except in the last week of her life when she changed her mind. Each day as she approached her death, she became more beautiful."

The book is a silent and moving contemplation of life beyond life and the desire to find solace and presence within the walls of the place that we choose to call home. The loss of dear ones is reflected in the sense of belonging to a place, a house full of history, which also carries on the life of others. "I know that I will not live in this house forever. The house will hopefully outlive me, but I wonder if a part of me will outlive the house."

Poetic and nostalgic imagery subtly conveys the notion that our homes hold the spirits of those who lived in them, filling the space with memories beyond the physical presence.