BOOK REVIEW

Share My Lonesome Valley talks about the emotional side of caregiving. It is not a book about how to provide care for someone else – it talks powerfully about the needs of the caregiver.

I wasn’t particularly looking forward to reading this book because of the title, which suggested to me a syrupy and over-sentimental treatment of the subject. I was wrong and I would have missed a gem! It is written from a place of true emotional empathy that only those who have walked in the shoes of the subject can find.

People who have a person with Alzheimer’s disease or a related dementia in their family should read this book when they see their role changing from spouse, child, brother or friend to that of caregiver. Or if you are passed that stage, read it now (twice if you have to)!

It talks in straightforward language about how caregivers can and should take care of themselves. My belief is that many caregivers will find reading this book a liberating experience.

My favourite quote from the book: “There seems to be some kind of stigma attached to not caring for the loved on 100% of the time. To ‘put them in one of those places’ seems to say we don’t love them like we should. Often I get the feeling we are afraid of how it will look to some mythical body of judges who watch how we give care and somehow tell the world the score”.