An Extra Pair Of Hands (a Story Of Caring And Everyday Acts Of Love)

By (author) Mosse Kate
Short description/annotation
A deeply moving story of what it means to care for those we love by bestselling author Kate Mosse.
Description
''Inspiring'' GUARDIAN ''Heartbreaking'' INDEPENDENT ''I loved it'' ADAM KAY ''Beautiful'' MATT HAIG ''Luminous'' NICCI GERRARD ''Essential reading'' MADELEINE BUNTING ''A celebration'' CHRISTIE WATSON ----- A Best Book for Summer 2021 in the Times, Guardian, and The i Independent Book of the Month ----- As our population ages, more and more of us find ourselves caring for parents and loved ones - some 8.8 million people in the UK. An invisible army of carers holding families together. Here, Kate Mosse tells her personal story of finding herself as a carer in middle age: first, helping her mother look after her beloved father through Parkinson''s, then supporting her mother in widowhood, and finally as ''an extra pair of hands'' for her 90-year-old mother-in-law. This is a story about the gentle heroism of our carers, about small everyday acts of tenderness, and finding joy in times of crisis. It''s about juggling priorities, mind-numbing repetition, about guilt and powerlessness, about grief, and the solace of nature when we''re exhausted or at a loss. It is also about celebrating older people, about learning to live differently - and think differently about ageing. But most of all, it''s a story about love. ----- ''Lifts the spirits without pulling punches'' IAN RANKIN ''Irresistible'' RACHEL JOYCE ''Questions how and why we fetishise independence when the reality of human experience is always interdependence'' GUARDIAN, BOOK OF THE DAY ''Heartfelt, funny and at times heartbreaking. 10/10'' INDEPENDENT
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A beautiful, profoundly moving book about society''s most vital glue - care
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A must read
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Essential reading
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An incisive, profoundly humane blend of the personal and the political
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A brilliant read that celebrates both the fragility and resilience of human existence... ultimately uplifting, inspiring, a tribute to love
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I read it in one sitting, and will be pressing into the hands of everyone I know. A celebration of ageing, womanhood and what love really means
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Moving ... heartfelt ... questions how and why we fetishise independence when the reality of human experience is always interdependence. Here is a book that sees, in this, a cause for celebration
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Heartfelt, funny and at times heartbreaking ... Anyone who has ever cared for an older relative, in whatever capacity, will relate to it. Keep the tissues handy. 10/10
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A beautiful, emotional and timely read
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A beacon of light: full of candour, sorrow, joy, hard-won wisdom, and luminous with love
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This is a truly beautiful book, shot through with honesty, heartbreak and joy. I loved it
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Her timely story is compassionate and humane, judiciously blending the personal with the political; as she eloquently argues, "care is a feminist issue"
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A meditation on caring and ageing that lifts the spirits without pulling punches
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Told with wit, honesty and irresistible warmth. It celebrates both those who care, and those who grieve, as well as those who are cared for ... Books like this are like being held by the hand
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Honest, moving ... this book will be a huge help to both carers and the cared-for
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The power of this extraordinary memoir lies in Mosse''s unsparing account of the personal costs of care-giving - and its deep and poignant joys ... the moments of humour, connection and triumph and the recognition that the relations