Author:Jan Hall
When a loved one has been diagnosed with dementia you might step into the new role of carer, helping your relative to remain safe, happy and as independent as possible.
In this fully updated and revised edition, Dementia Essentials offers a realistic and reassuring guide to help you and the person affected navigate the complexities of dementia and Alzheimer’s, and face anything that these conditions might place your way.
Written by real carers with first-hand experience, this book is now updated with the latest research coupled with essential advice, personal insights and helpful strategies, including:
· Advice on medication and getting support from local health professionals
· Ideas for encouraging independence, confidence and activity while reducing anxiety, aggression and confusion
· Strategies for coping as a carer, helping you understand your emotions and feel more empowered
· Guidance on how to prepare for the future, including revised legal and financial advice and tips on choosing a care home
Positive and practical, Dementia Essentials will give you with everything you need to provide the best possible care for the person you are supporting.
A poignant, gentle and astutely observed novel about marriage and the evolution of love
—— Sunday Times, Novels of the Year 2020A piece of perfection - a subtle, thought-provoking investigation of a marriage. It rings true. It's the best book I've read all year
—— Irish ExaminerWhat a beautiful novel ... elegant, understated, subtly powerful, and rings so perfectly true ... Beautiful, poignant moments, drawn with such quiet power. And that quiet power is alive and at work on every page
—— Donal RyanBeautiful and moving
—— Claire Fuller, author of Unsettled GroundInsightful and deeply moving, this is a story of one man's grief that somehow manages to hold onto its sense of humour. I loved this book
—— Christine Dwyer HickeySkilfully written with a wonderful lightness of touch ... An acutely observed portrait of a relationship ... filled with astute observations of human behaviour
—— Irish TimesKathleen MacMahon's prose could not appear more effortless or beautiful
—— Sunday IndependentHeart-rending ... a tender and beautiful [love story] ... MacMahon's words ring with the honesty of truth, offering genuine insight into the human condition
—— Business PostA tender dissection of marriage
—— IndependentThis elegant, tender novel is an absolute pleasure
—— BestA beautifully written and powerful tale
—— Woman & HomeGentle and triumphant, MacMahon offers us a novel steeped in beautiful prose and poignant tenderness
—— Anne GriffinThe most beautiful prose I have read in years ... Not only my favourite novel of the year, but possibly of the decade
—— Margaret Madden , Sunday IndependentI've been recommending Nothing But Blue Sky to anyone who'll listen ... It's about grief and eulogising and getting into the "habit of happiness" and I just loved it
—— Emer McLysaght , Irish Times, Best Books of 2020Beautiful ... A gentle but deeply affecting read, and the perfect reminder of how sadness and hope can sometimes live side by side
—— Woman's WaySure and subtle, MacMahon holds the reader in her spell. She is a born storyteller
—— Mike McCormackKathleen MacMahon has written an absorbing, grave, and emotionally resonant study of a marriage, of a life, of masculinity and of grief. A marvellous achievement
—— Neil HegartyKathleen MacMahon sensitively explores the complexities of the human heart and reveals how even in the depths of grief, unexpected light can emerge from the darkness
—— David ParkFull of humour and brims with the warmth of family, friendship and the possibility of second chances
—— Irish Sunday PeopleAn elegantly written and moving account of one man coming to terms with the sudden death of his wife
—— Irish Times MagazineExcellent (and darkly funny) ... A sensitive, nuanced, and ultimately hopeful exploration of grief
—— Eimear Ryan , Irish ExaminerTouching and enthralling
—— Sunday TimesStunning
—— Henrietta McKervey , via TwitterA tender portrait of a marriage and how we are formed by our closest relationships
—— Good HousekeepingHeart-wrenching ... Almost a parable, it's a cautionary tale for those failing to appreciate just how short life can be
—— RTÉ CultureIt's rare to read an account of a happy normal marriage and she does it brilliantly
—— Sue LeonardKathleen MacMahon writes with a confidence and ease and with an unerring sense of timing
—— Maeve Binchy , Irish TimesThe ecstasies, the agonies, the passion and the pain. Reading Clover Stroud is a whole body experience.
—— Polly SamsonAddresses what motherhood really feels like... She writes about raising five children with honesty and poignancy, revealing universal truths along the way.
—— Red MagazineStroud's warm and honest memoir is the take on parenting we all need. An unflinching look at how to hold on to your own personality when motherhood threatens to submerge it.
—— i NewspaperStroud’s clear-eyed look at how wildness and domesticity have entwined in her life is both heartening and inspiring.
—— Olivia LaingClover Stroud writes with such startling vivacity and honesty about motherhood, this book has its own heartbeat. It crackles with life - its messiness, darkness, and joy. I loved it.
—— Eve Chase, author Black Rabbit Hall and The Vanishing of Audrey WildeClover’s expertise is writing about family life in a way that feels both new and entirely familiar. How Clover talks about motherhood is very different to the ways you see it talked about – I think we’ve got two polarised narratives in media at the moment and she fuses them together to find this new place. She’s really put into words how I feel as a mother – that it is this intense, almost sickening, love, but it is also an absolute fear that you don’t ever know how you’d live without them. I really recommend My Wild and Sleepless Nights.
—— Pandora SykesHer descriptions leap off the page... It's the honesty that makes this book so compelling.
—— The SpectatorClover Stroud managed to write down all of the mania in one place, making me shed a tear and honk with laughter…she writes so eloquently about all we lose as well as gain through our children.
—— Emma Barnett , Good Housekeeping'Clover Stroud is a wonderful writer of the most colourful prose
—— ME+EM BookclubMy Wild and Sleepless Nights by Clover Stroud is a robust, raw and rare celebration of motherhood that had me laughing out loud one moment and crying the next.
—— Rachel Joyce , ObserverA captivating guide to the joys and terrors of motherhood.
—— Sunday Times best paperbacks of 2021An electrically candid memoir...raw, elemental and beautiful.
—— Daily Telegraph