Rating: 5 out of 5

This gets 5 stars from me because some elements of it are so very, heartbreaking, familiar. I’ve nodded, read bits to the lovely husband who has been by my side during the whole, and the end, of my Mum’s journey through dementia, and I’ve cried.

The use of verbal cues to disguise a failing grasp on conversation - “yes, that’s right”.
The need to rediscover the history of the family - I wrote chapters of my Mum’s life to give her care team a backstory and some context to who she had been.
The struggle to come to terms with this new relationship that throws you into a very different role to that you’d had before.
The challenge with guilt.

Mum lost her fight with dementia 9 months ago. I’m not sure that I could have, or should have, read this whilst she was alive. But as I try and come to terms with the experiences of those 14 or so years it helps to know I wasn’t the only person to ask these questions or struggle with these things.

Originally posted to my Goodreads account