Every Kind of People

byKathryn Faulke

A Journey into the Heart of Care Work

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Kate never expected to become a home care worker. But when she left her senior role in the NHS, burnt-out and disheartened, she thought caring for people in their own homes would be a simpler job. Despite being determined not to become too involved with her 'customers', she soon found herself developing firm friendships, forging deep connections and bearing witness to the extraordinary drama to be found in ordinary lives.

With energy, compassion and clarity, her memoir gives an astonishing insight into this unsung - and often maligned - profession, and into the hidden lives of the housebound and infirm. From Beryl who screams like a banshee whenever Kate tries to wash her, but collapses in giggles when her toes are tickled, to bawdy Mr Radbert who 'promised to give me his car when he can remember where he left it'.

Every Kind of People is clear-eyed about the challenges facing the NHS and the care system. But it is above all a celebration of humanity and of the life-changing impact of caring, on those who offer it and those who receive it.

What comes through most in the book is the privilege of intimacy that comes from caring, the close relationships and love

Guardian

About Kathryn Faulke

Every Kind of People is Kathryn Faulke's first book. She was runner-up in the Wasafiri International New Writing Prize in 2020 and in 2021 she won the Mslexia Memoir Prize for an earlier version of Every Kind of People. She has now moved out of London but continues to work in care in the South East of England.
Details
  • Imprint: Fig Tree
  • ISBN: 9780241672488
  • Length: 304 pages
  • Dimensions: 224mm x 27mm x 143mm
  • Weight: 408g
  • Price: £18.99
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