Every Kind of People

A riveting book that treats elderly, infirm and irritable people as the lively and extraordinary human beings they really are. Kathryn Faulke is a shining example to us all, though she’s self-deprecating and touchingly hard on herself. Every Kind of People is truly heart-warming and will be in pride of place on my bookshelf of very special books * Jacqueline Wilson *What comes through most in the book is the privilege of intimacy that comes from caring, the close relationships and love * Guardian *Written with compassion, candour, and often hilarity * Radio Times *In a first of its kind, here is a memoir of a home care worker: a deeply compelling story of one of the most unsung professions in the UK, brimming with anecdotes to make you both laugh and cry. A vital book * inews, The Best New Books to Read in October *Every Kind of People reminds us that wonderful kindness and comedy and compassion abound in the care sector, the bourne to which so many of us are destined and for which so few are prepared * Reverend Richard Coles *An extraordinary account of what it is to care for others, both beautiful and painful to read. This book is a compassionate invitation to get up close to the human condition and those who attend to it * Dr Gwen Adshead, author of The Devil You Know *Every Kind of People talks about what it’s actually like to be a carer: it’s full of love and full of warmth. * Adam Rutherford *Every Kind of People is not just essential reading for anyone curious about the realities of care work in this country; it’s also the work of a natural storyteller, and a book full of empathy, humour, and - yes - care. All kinds of brilliant * Jon McGregor, author of Lean Fall Stand *Exceptional … Beyond being a vivid and consistently engaging memoir, it delivers a powerful lesson in humanity that needs to be shared * Margaret Busby *This is an extraordinary and important book that will make you laugh, cry, admire and despair in equal measure. Beautifully written, it is both heart-warming and inspiring, but also left me with deep anger and puzzlement that care work can be so demeaned as “low skill” by our political leaders. How can a decent society so undervalue such difficult, challenging, and important work? Every Kind of People is a wonderful achievement * David Haslam *

Kathryn Faulke’s Every Kind of People is her first book. She was runner-up in the Wasafiri International New Writing Prize in 2020, and in 2021 she won the Mslexia Memoir Prize for an earlier version of Every Kind of People. She has now moved out of London but continues to work in care in the South East of England.