A patchwork story of a family and their secrets told from different points of view. A kind of comedy of manners but with more nibble than bite. I loved the writing but found it hard to care about any of the characters. Maybe it was a little too sweet for my taste - apart from one incident that seemed a little abrupt. An enjoyable read.

I very much enjoyed this book. It has a good story and excellent main characters. I would definately recommend this book.

Secrets, Lies, Dilemmas.....
A book of familial relationships, outside forces and difficult circumstances, emotionally and vividly portrayed and with a twist. Secrets, lies, dilemmas and social commentary although not, I feel, a social comedy.. Characters are well drawn, credible but not always likeable. Engaging reading.

I enjoyed this book, for various reasons. I liked the genuine feel of family life and the difficulties of
caring for a loved family member, but how wanting to care and being able to do it a practical way is difficult in our modern world.
The result being to find a suitable care giver, yet the feeling of jealousy when that person has a greater rapport with them is beautifully observed.
At first, I thought oh, hear we go, another nasty ending, but it became apparent in the rather sad twist, that although it brings brother and sister together, they didn’t really know about their parents lives.
I was a bit disappointed in the final chapters. That’s probably because I wanted a happier ending.

Complicated families and well buried secrets. Written in a lively way, using the voices of James, daughter Phoebe, son Robert, carer Mandy and her husband Ken.
James a widowed academic has had a few unsatisfactory carers but when Mandy turns up she is perfect for him, encouraging him to be more outgoing and adventurous. His grown up children's lives are messy and complicated and initially they are pleased to hand over the responsibility of him to someone else..
Secrets from the past and a death bring about changes to everyone's lives.
Lots of thought provoking ideas about mortality and morals.
Thanks to Deborah Moggach and NetGalley

I read this ARC for an honest review
All thoughts and opinions are mine

Already a bestseller, I was thrilled to be able to read this
Moggach never disappoints and this is the author at her best

An absolute belter - its funny, poignant and an absolute must-read

I wish I could give it more stars

A lovely, quirky novel which one would come to expect from the author. It forces the reader to answer the question of how well do we know our parents as individuals? What if what we always thought as children had a totally different explanation?

Robert and Phoebe are worried about their dad Robert, but not quite enough to look after him themselves! So the empty Mandy, a straight talking enigma who seems to actually enjoy his company. But is Mandy too good to be true? As concerns about increased forgetfulness grow and changes to wills are made just who is Mandy and what is she up to?

Mandy likes to tell it how it is so as Phoebe and Robert make their investigations into Mandy so she too looks at the clues of their lives and gives them a few home truths, why is phoebe lusting after the local vagabond? and why does Robert stay in a loveless marriage?

Sometimes when you are so busy finding fault with others you miss your own mistakes, but maybe Mandy can bring this dysfunctional family back together again!

I have read Deborah Moggach before- Tulip Fever was a particularly good read, mixing fact with fiction. I enjoy books which are semi educational. In this scenario the author chooses a scenario that many readers can identify with, be it as the carer or the one needing the caring, so once more Deborah delves into facts.
It is an interesting and arresting read, the title not fully justifying the complexities of the synopsis.
The family members are recognizable, the situations familiar but the author does curve balls surprising the reader and the changing time fame and different narratives gives a fuller picture of feelings and events that would the reader would not be privy to otherwise.
What I like about the author is her flexibility, diversity and range of genre- she is not a one trick pony who only writes a certain style or subject.
A brilliant, observational read.

A good read where you can see the intricacies of family life. Even when children are middle aged with families of their own there are still ghosts and family resentments. It wasn't the most exciting book I have read but I finished it and enjoyed it.

The Carer is a tale of life, of siblings dealing with the stresses of caring for an elderly, infirm parent. Phoebe is single and childless with a hippy, off grid ‘boyfriend’, Torren. Richard is married to Farida, a TV news reader, he’s jobless and working on a novel in the shed.

Both feel the other sibling doesn’t understand the stresses of worrying about their dad, James, they feel the other doesn’t spend enough time or effort with him. But then along comes Mandy, a live in carer. She’s brash, her politics are at odds with theirs and she’s not ‘like’ them at all. But she’s perfect, James loves her company and they have a hoot.

Then Phoebe and Richard begin to suspect Mandy is not all she appears to be and they have suspicions she is after James’ money.

Oh my, I love this book, it’s poignant, full of humour and honesty. From the stress of looking after an elderly, infirm parent to the sibling bickering, the general messiness of life and coming to terms with the fact that parents are just human after all.

It really touched a nerve with me as I cared for my mother for several years (she’s now in a care home due to dementia) and my brother and I have very similar arguments as Phoebe and Richard. It’s so true to life.

It also deals with grief and there are some surprises along the way. A truly emotional and engaging read. One that will stay with me.

Thank you to the publishers, the author and NetGalley for an eARC of The Carer. This is my honest and unbiased review.

The Carer is the first Deborah Moggach novel I've read, but it won't be my last. At 200-pages, I zipped through it in a day and really enjoyed the themes of aging and how the parent/ child dynamic changes over time.

The story opens with siblings Phoebe and Robert and their relief at finding a new live-in carer for their elderly father. Mandy is a force of nature and instantly takes over. Unsurprisingly, it's not long until Phoebe and Robert start to feel uneasy about her. At this stage of the book I was enjoying the writing and feeling very secure in where the plot was going. And that's exactly when Moggach hits you with a big twist! No spoilers, but I genuinely didn't see it coming.

Part one is told from the alternating viewpoints of Phoebe and Robert, taking it in turns to lay out their petty grievances and affronts. Both of them are awful humans but Moggach's wry, knowing writing make them enjoyable to read. The structure for the second half of the book gives voice to some of the characters only loosely sketched in or mentioned in passing by Phoebe and Robert, but who become central to the story.

For such a short novel, I found the emotion striking and heartfelt. The themes of ageing, the role reversal of children looking after parents in older age and the guilt and exhaustion of caring for a loved one were brilliantly put into words without being sentimental. It felt real. Moggach's sleight of hand with the plot is very clever. There was maybe one more twist than I needed right at the end, but that doesn't take away from a powerful punch of a story, skillfully told.

Thanks Netgalley and the Publisher. I really enjoyed this book and did not think I would, good characters and good storyline. Would recommending.

Told mostly through the voices & viewpoints of Phoebe and Robert, this amusing story is shaped around the ripples of change in their family when a new carer arrives to look after their elderly academic father. Add any new person into a situation and the dynamic changes but the middle-aged children didn’t expect their father to change too.

I loved how Phoebe and Robert evolved throughout the novel as they dealt with the ongoing changes to their perceptions of their lives and their complex relationship with their father. The humour was a delight and was a good counterpoint to the emotional drama which took an unexpected yet compelling turn.

Not what I expected. The first-class part was really good and flowed nicely, but I found it difficult to get into the second part. I think the fact that it was written in the third person gave a sense of disconnect. Not sure if I liked any of the characters, even though they were very believable. Definitely a strange one to review as I enjoyed it but didn't love it.

The Carer

In these Corona days I have been struggling to settle to a good book but Deborah Moggach’s latest did the trick..she of the Exotic Marigold Hotel fame.

The modern tale concerns a middle aged brother and sister balancing their own domestic and romantic trials with the needs of their ageing father. Enter Mandy the carer who transforms their fathers dwindling days. Gold digger or working class saint ? Like the siblings we are not sure.

So much so familiar territory, but then comes the twist and it is a good one. So I won’t spoil it for you.

Highly recommended this easy reading novel will make you smile, maybe make you laugh and definitely bring a tear to your eye. What it certainly will do is make you consider how and with whom you might want to spend your own dwindling days .

Elaine Davies
A review in return for a book provided by net galley.

I was very excited to see another novel by Deborah Moggach and as always it was unputdownable. Such believable characters, all of them flawed in many different ways. I did find that the story didn’t flow quite right for me but that didn’t detract from the enjoyment. An easy enjoyable read,

Deborah Moggach brings a unique perspective to the experience of being in the ‘middle’ of life. Robert and Phoebe are juggling work, relationships, children and an ailing father who needs full time care since the death of their mother, Anna. Thankfully, Mandy comes into their lives and seems like the answer to their prayers. They hire her on the spot and she moves into the family home, leaving Phoebe and Robert to get on with their own lives. Robert lives in London, with his wife Farida who is a famous breakfast newsreader. He spends his time in their garden shed writing a novel about rural Wales where they spent some of the happiest times of their childhood. Phoebe still lives in Wales and paints hares and badgers to sell in the local tourist shops. She’s unmarried, but is having secret trysts with an ageing hippy who looks like Iggy Pop. Their parents, James and Anna had a long, happy marriage signified by the love seat in the back garden. Their two children feel their own relationships suffer by comparison. James was a science professor, a very intelligent man who is given to reciting poetry. Robert feels inferior by comparison and Phoebe wonders whether there is any point to her art, or whether she’s just painting what sells. Meanwhile, James and Mandy seem to be getting on famously, often popping for days out together, usually to the garden centre which they both love.
Phoebe and Robert go back to their daily lives and visit James and Mandy at weekends. They’re both surprised at how well the pair are getting on. Mandy wears very odd clothing combinations, and expresses views about immigrants that James would usually find objectionable. Phoebe notices the pet names and in-jokes, whereas Robert notices that Mandy has been upstairs in their Dad’s room. When he investigates further, he finds that James’s papers and photos are spread out on the floor. Robert has always felt a distance between him and his father, remembering times when he wasn’t present for sports days. Phoebe remembers that he always seemed to be away at conferences. They’ve never been particularly close, but their father’s relationship with Mandy brings them together. They’re suspicious, but wonder if it’s simply jealousy over Mandy’s seemingly easy relationship with him. At lunch one Sunday, when all four are together, Mandy mentions a visit to the solicitor and their suspicions deepen. Why didn’t they check her references properly? They know the answer. They were desperate and she seemed like a godsend. Now they were terrified that they had invited a cuckoo into the nest. What if Mandy coerced elderly people into giving her money?
I expected the novel to follow the mystery set up in the first half, but then the author took the story in a completely different direction. I love being wrong footed like this by a book, and the story really takes off from here. The story becomes one of two marriages, with all their complications, peaks and troughs. We delve back into the late 1960s when James and his wife Anna have two small children. Anna feels frustrated by her role as a stay at home Mum, whereas James is at the peak of his career, travelling and speaking at conferences. We also meet Stella and her husband, Ken. They’ve been married for several years but their relationship has been damaged by infertility. Between two of these four characters a four year affair takes place, mainly in a caravan in Wales. The implications of this affair will still be unravelling years later. By turns comical, then poignant and meaningful this is a real insight into the state of marriage and how the behaviour of parents impacts on their children. I loved how the book ended, with yet another twist to the tale I didn’t expect, but finally with some peace and acceptance. As a therapist, it felt like the aftermath of therapy, where you’ve gone through the hard work and reached a new understanding of yourself. The author shows that we can come through a terrible ordeal, but actually come to a happier state than we were in before.

This book was such a rollercoaster of feelings. You get Robert and Phoebe's point of views when looking for a carer for their elderly father.
As a carer myself i was wondering where this book was going... would it give carers a bad name or see something stealing from the elderly like the news always shows.

The grown-up Robert and Phoebe like Mandy to start with as they were helping look after their father, so they could carry on with their monotonous lives, then suspicions arise when they find out that Mandy has been going through paperwork and going through a cabinet where James (the father)'s will is kept.

The last 2 sections of the book gives you insight of what Mandy was going through and how she is and the last section of the book has different perspectives.

If you asked my opinion at the beginning of this book i would have told you that i didnt like it at all, it was slow going for the first 45% but after that i was captivated. This book has lies, secrets, love and family.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for sending the book to me for review.

In the immortal words of Bette Davis ‘old age ain’t for sissies’ and the Wentworth family would probably agree. Robert and Phoebe are in their early 60’s and are in a kind of sibling carer competition as their father ages. Professor James Wentworth, an Oxford physicist before he and his late wife Anna retire to The Cotswolds to enjoy a gentler life. Following a fall and some start/stop carers in sweeps colourfully dumpy Mandy who brings her father back to life, introducing him to Pointless and Game of Thrones, custard creams and days out to hedgehog sanctuaries. So what’s the problem? It all sounds good but what kind of angel is straight talking Mandy? This lovely novel is principally told from the perspectives of Phoebe and Robert but Part Two tells James’ back story.

This entertaining novel has so many elements to it. There’s humour, ranging from a smile to laugh out loud. There’s soul searching for several characters, some jealousy and deception with the siblings receiving several shocks about their parents and their past. The lively and engaging writing conveys sibling rivalry and family dynamics and the uneasy truths that Mandy brings with her. The characters are excellent. Robert is a lost soul following job redundancy and his marriage to successful news reader Farida suffers under her rather scathing scrutiny as he attempts to write an opus. Phoebe is single and a wannabe artist. James is a delight and in some ways reminds me of my late father especially his ineptitude at anything practical around the home. What of Mandy? Doughy of fact, lack of grace, loose of lip, wide of hip, deliverer of home truths and is way more perceptive than they give her credit for. Robert and Phoebe ultimately have a lot to thank her for and are happier because of it.

Overall, this is an incisive look at family, at marriage, at what makes us happy and accepting that doesn’t necessarily mean a high flying career or conforming. It is funny, touching and a pleasure to read.

I enjoyed this book, the characters are finely drawn and vividly portrayed.
James, widowed, retired eminent Oxford professor needs a carer. His daughter Phoebe and son Robert, both in their early 60’s, don’t want the responsibility.
Phoebe and Robert are very self-centred and still blaming their failure to make anything of their lives because they believe that their intellectual parents neglected them in their childhood. Their mother was as intellectually gifted as their father, but when the children were born, the norm was the mother gave up her career and stayed home to raise the children. A non demonstrative woman, the children never felt her love. The children didn’t realize it, but their mother missed her career and resented her husband’s frequent travels.
Phoebe and Robert hire Mandy to take care of their father.
Mandy, from Solihull, in appearance quite similar to Tweedledum and Tweedledee, joyfully takes on the care of James and soon has him wearing tracksuit bottoms and reading the “Daily Mail”, playing the lottery and visiting shopping centres.
Phoebe and Robert are bewildered by the changes in their father’s behaviour, but so grateful that Mandy is cheerful and willing, they don’t question too deeply.
As Mandy’s control over their father increases, both Phoebe and Robert stop bickering with each other and start visiting their father more frequently. Through Mandy’s opinionated observations, Phoebe and Robert begin some much needed soul searching.
Overall, I enjoyed this book very much. Thank you to netgalley/publisher/author for an advance copy.