The Reluctant Carer

It’s the wisest, funniest, bravest and most essential life story I’ve read. I bloody love this book. – Frank Cottrell-BoyceBrave, unflinching and funny … This is a troubling but important read; an honest, warts and all glimpse into the reality of unpaid caring. It left me full of respect for those who care and seething that the system isn’t giving them the support and encouragement they so obviously need. – Jan Carson * The Irish Times *An astonishing and crucial memoir exploring the outer limits of familial love. The Reluctant Carer recounts a personal nightmare any of us could face with humour, heart and total honesty, asking vital questions of elderly care, where we’re at now, and where, one day, we will all be. How it’s as funny as it is moving is beyond me. I loved this book – David Whitehouse, author of About A SonSimultaneously delightfully funny and profoundly sad, the RC’s book is a tonic that should be prescribed on the NHS for carers everywhere. * TLS *Incredible. One of those rare books that should be dispensed on prescription to every household - captures the full glossary of emotion that goes with this role. – Lucy Easthope, author of When the Dust SettlesI absolutely loved this book. Moving and real, as well as splutter-your-tea funny, it’s a clear-eyed, intimate description of what old age is really like, and what it’s like trying to care for the old. It knocked me sideways. – Miranda SawyerAs funny as it is moving and poetic, The Reluctant Carer marries the forensic honesty of Karl Ove Knausgaard with the dry wit of Alan Bennett, and is every bit as good as that sounds. – Will Storr, author of The Science of StorytellingThis is the funniest, most touching book I’ve read in years; it will, quite frankly, break your heart. – Philip Hoare, author of Leviathan

The author is a writer and teacher and lives in South East England.