The Carer

Sometimes, less is more...

After mistakenly maxing out his credit card in a San Francisco clip joint, Kiwi backpacker Malcolm McDonald lands at London Heathrow homeless, friendless, unemployed – and flat broke to bat.

Out of options in the middle of a bitter British winter, Mal takes on a live-in job looking after Florence Days, an octogenarian who talks to her wallpaper and can’t understand why her late husband is always late for dinner.

A dark and disturbing tale of patricide by proxy and the corrosive effects of unbridled power, The Carer looks at what happens when you outsource your loved ones to people who don’t actually love them.

Advance reviews for The Carer

"A wake up call for anyone facing a dementia diagnosis - or who has elderly relatives requiring care.”
Georgia Howley, best selling author of In the Garden

“With elder abuse increasingly in the news, and against a backdrop of a rapidly aging population, this book calls time on our culture’s drive to prolong life at all costs – providing the strongest argument yet for quitting while you’re still ahead.”
James Whitehead, author of All the Way

"The Carer contributes to the current – and increasingly intense and high profile – debates about our right-to-die and how we will cover the cost of our aging population’s healthcare."
Dave Rider, author of Distant Sons