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The Carer

On sale

30th April 2020

Price: £8.99

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Selected: Paperback / ISBN-13: 9781472260499

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Moggach is at the height of her powers with this book, which moves from a beautifully observed comedy of middle-class life to an immensely moving celebration of two imperfect marriages’ Sunday Times

An unforgettable novel about age, caring and with a twist you won’t see coming…

A cracking, crackling social comedy, with some brilliant observations about ageing and a devilish plot twist’ The Times

From the bestselling author of The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, a deliciously funny, poignant and wry novel, full of surprising twists and turns:

James is getting on a bit and needs full-time help. So Phoebe and Robert, his middle-aged offspring, employ Mandy, who seems willing to take him off their hands. But as James regales his family with tales of Mandy’s virtues, their shopping trips and the shared pleasure of their journeys to garden centres, Phoebe and Robert sense something is amiss.

Then something extraordinary happens which throws everything into new relief, changing all the stories of their childhood – and the father – that they thought they knew so well.

‘A world full of charm, warmth and pitch-perfect humour…punctuated by Moggach’s blistering truths about the sorrowful threads that bind families together’ Sunday Express

‘Joyous’ Daily Mail

What readers say about THE CARER:

‘Comedy and reality and some delicious writing – what a pleasure!’ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐

‘What a wonderful story; full of so many unusual twists and turns whilst still being wholly believable’ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐

‘Beautifully written. You think you know where this is going? Well, you’re completely wrong! Certainly worthy of five stars for writing, content, and how much I enjoyed reading this book’ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐

‘Moggach’s characterisations are, as ever, superb’ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐

Reviews

Marian Keyes
Unputdownable, fun and tender with characters that jump off the page. Perfection
Sabine Durrant
I just loved it - so touching and wise and funny, full of all the lovely touches that Debby is so good at. She draws characters so deftly; you begin to think you know them from the smallest of observations. They're all so human!
Patrick Gale
The Carer will ring bells for any reader with parents reaching the grab-rail stage of life but proves as touching as it's funny. Moggach writes in the best funny-ouch tradition, her humour always rooted in acute observation of our frailties and appetites
Louisa Young
Deborah Moggach's warm heart and cool eye for hilarious British idiosyncrasies are both on top form here - I laughed like a drain. Specially at the hippy Lothario in the wet Welsh woods
Adele Parks
Beautifully written, oozing interesting characters that you genuinely care about
Tessa Hadley
Lit up a dull day with its warmth and wit
Lisa Appignanesi
The most endearing of humorists, Deborah Moggach casts a penetrating eye on our foibles and fantasies. Neither ageing, nor death - as The Carer so beautifully demonstrates - can resist her comic scrutiny
Susie Boyt
A wry, witty and wise novel, full of insight and understanding'
Woman & Home
If you enjoyed THE BEST EXOTIC MARIGOLD HOTEL, there's a chance you'll love the author's new novel even more. A heartwarming triumph
Robbie Millen, The Times
A cracking, crackling social comedy with some brilliant people observations about ageing and a devilish plot twist
Readers Digest
A sharp, witty, characteristically generous and gallopingly readable novel
The i
Surprising, funny and certain to have more than one reader wincing in recognition
Best
A witty tale, with beautifully drawn characters
Good Housekeeping
Moving and funny
Daily Mirror
Moggach's latest is full of warmth and humour as well as blistering truths about the sorrowful threads that bind families
Kate Saunders, The Times
Moggach addresses an all too common nightmare with ruthless honesty and sublime wit - The Carer is one of the funniest novels I have read for ages
Wendy Holden, Daily Mail
This joyous novel ... a sustained satire on smug middle-class mores, like a deranged Archers omnibus. Can there be higher praise?
India Knight
I love her book - and this one especially. It's marvellous
Hannah Beckerman, Observer
Infuses the subject with her trademark humour and pathos, reshaping a societal dilemma into a family drama, by turns compelling and surprising - her nuanced characterisations make the subject matter really come alive
Sunday Express, S Mag
This is a world full of charm, warmth and pitch-perfect humour, but it is also a world punctuated by Moggach's blistering truths on the tangled, sorrowful threads of resentment and disappointment that bind families together
Sunday Times
Moggach is at the height of her powers with this book, which moves from a beautifully observed comedy of middle-class life to an immensely moving celebration of two imperfect marriages
Spectator
Wickedly, witty entertainment. Moggach is so very good at describing the ordinary, she transforms it into the unusual, shocking and fascinating. Behind the normality of people's lives there often lies an extraordinary story. It's this that Moggach tells with insight, acute observation of character and mordant humour. The Carer is an immediately relevant work, a fiction anchored in reality
Private Eye
Good, rollicking, and occasionally, what with the file of evasions, duplicity and fractured emotion, wounding and reflective stuff