An Extra Pair of Hands: A story of caring, ageing and everyday acts of love

A Times Best Book for Summer 2021
A Guardian Summer Book 2021
The i's 30 Best Books for Summer 2021
An Independent Book of the Month

An inspiring and heartbreaking story of what it means to care for those we love - by bestselling author Kate Mosse

'A brilliant read that celebrates both the fragility and resilience of human existence … uplifting, inspiring, a tribute to love' ELIF SHAFAK

'Shot through with honesty, heartbreak and joy. I loved it' ADAM KAY

'A celebration of ageing, womanhood and what love really means' CHRISTIE WATSON, author of The Language of Kindness

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.

'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' Guardian, Book of the Day

'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' Independent

'A meditation on caring and ageing that lifts the spirits without pulling punches' Ian Rankin

'A beautiful, emotional and timely read' Matt Haig

'Luminous with love' Nicci Gerrard