JOBS WORTH

Books by People Who Care

My 91 year old mother has been in a care home since January, her health and mobility having taken a marked downturn since she had a stroke on New Year’s Eve. Visiting her there has brought me into daily contact with the multi-national team of carers she now relies on to look after her round the clock; as well as the on-call nurses who ensure she takes her medication and discuss her increasingly complex needs with me. The experience has been a salutary reminder of the people we rely on at these challenging times in our lives and those of our loved ones.

It’s only natural that we live our days as if we have all the time in the world. But we should never forget those who care for us when that time starts to run out. So here are three exceptional books by three exceptional people who have chosen to care, in professions which require so much more of them than to simply do their jobs. At first sight these reading choices might seem depressing in subject matter. But I love them for celebrating common decency and kindness, and in so doing providing a humane counterbalance to depressing headlines about the state of our world.

“The Courage to Care: A Call for Compassion” by Christie Watson

Compassion for others is how we will be judged. And is how we should be judged.

From a community mental health nurse marshalling support for a man suffering from severe depression to nurses who work in the military, this second non-fiction book by nurse Christie Watson brings us utterly remarkable stories about the magnificent, beyond-the-call work nurses do, and the exceptional bravery of the patients and families they care for. Published in 2020 at the time of the Covid-19 pandemic, it felt timely then, and continues to resonate strongly now, reminding us that we are all deserving of compassion, and that we can all find the courage to care.

“Dear Life: A Doctor’s Story of Love and Loss” by Rachel Clarke

It takes courage to love the things of this world when all of them, without fail, are fleeting, fading, now more than a spark against the darkness of deep time.

Rachel Clarke, a palliative care doctor, won the 2024 Women’s Prize for Non-Fiction for her most recent book “The Story of a Heart”. I love anything Rachel writes but this book remains closest to my own heart. It describes how, having grown up riveted by her father’s stories of practising medicine, she eventually fulfilled her deep-seated desire to become a doctor herself. As a palliative care specialist, she tries to bring care and comfort to those reaching the end of their lives. Then when her beloved father receives a terminal diagnosis, she has to relive all her training in the most personal way possible. This book is a love letter to her doctor father, but also to a profession and to life itself.

“Every Kind of People: A Journey Into the Heart of Care Work” by Kathryn Faulke

Come with me and feel how it is to be in this place that is valued so little but is so vital

Kathryn Faulke never expected to become a home care worker, but after quitting her senior NHS role due to burnout, she hoped it might prove a simpler, less demanding job. However, working long hours for a pittance, she is soon bearing witness to the extraordinary dramas of ordinary lives; from Beryl who screams whenever she is washed but is also ticklish, to bawdy Mr Radbert who promises to give her his car when he can remember where he left it. This marvellously life-affirming and utterly humbling book is a tribute to the life-changing labour of care workers; a window on the neglected lives of the housebound and infirm; and ultimately a celebration of humanity, in all its forms.