The Carer by Deborah Moggach.

Read March 2019. Publication date 9th July 2019.

Phoebe and her brother, Robert, have been looking for a suitable carer for their frail, widowed father for sometime. After a couple of false starts, the capable Mandy arrives, and with her rubber gloves and orange teapot, she takes charge and frees them to get on with their lives.

Phoebe and Robert are middle-aged now, but are carrying many hang-ups from their childhood. They both feel a sense of abandonment in relation to their father, James, as he was a brilliant particle physicist and frequently absent as they were growing up. They have found it hard to move on and, frankly, they are living pretty miserable lives, as a result.

As Mandy becomes the mainstay of James' existence, he begins to change and becomes more distant from Phoebe and Robert. The brother and sister struggle with the conflicting need for Mandy and their jealousy of her closeness to James, and their suspicion that she is up to something.

However, Phoebe and Robert will discover that they have a connection with Mandy that they never dreamed of, and her influence will help them to change their lives for the better.

I was lucky enough to receive a copy of this book by The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel author, Deborah Moggach, prior to its July release, courtesy of Tinder Press.

This is a surprisingly touching and funny book about coping with aging, sibling rivalry and the need to cast off resentments from the past and grow up.

I loved that Phobe and Robert learn to regain the closeness they had with each other in childhood, eventhough this starts out as a shared envy and mistrust of the capable Mandy.
They are both shocked when Mandy dares to point out that they are both living miserable lives, that they should get over feelings about their childhood at their age, and give their father a break. They both learn that their father has secrets of his own, which will ultimately bring the three of them to an understanding.

This is such a lovely book, which did not go in the direction I thought it would, but has a satisfying, if bitter-sweet ending, that tugs on the heart strings.