Tender
The Imperfect Art of Caring
Coronet 2020
Tender: The imperfect Art of Caring
A personal, positive and essential book for the many invisible carers among us.
We are all likely - at some point in our lives - to face the prospect of caring for another, whether it's a parent, child or partner. It is estimated that there are 7 million people in the UK caring for loved ones. And yet these are the unpaid, unsung people whose number is rising all the time.
In Tender: the imperfect art of caring, Penny Wincer combines her own experiences as a carer with the experiences of others to offer real and transformative tools and insights for navigating a situation that many of us are either facing or will face at some time.
Penny Wincer has twice been a carer: first to her mother, and now as a single parent to her autistic son. Tender shows how looking after oneself is a fundamental part of caring for another, and describes the qualities that we can look to cultivate in ourselves through what may otherwise feel to be an exhausting task.
Weaving her lived experience with research into resilience, perfectionism and self-compassion, Penny combines the stories of other carers alongside those who receive support - offering an often surprising and hopeful perspective.
Praise for Tender
The Sunday Times calls Tender “An insightful and well-timed book ... forces us to confront the stereotypes - and prejudices - we hold” - read the full review here
“A profoundly important book” - Clover Stroud, Sunday Times Best Selling Author
“A wonderful book: compassionate, honest, carefully-reasoned and genuinely helpful... This will benefit many people.” - Katherine May, author of Wintering
“Moving and beautifully written, nuanced and wise, alert to every paradox at the heart of love. A hugely important book not only for current or future carers, but anyone learning to accept that life tends to resist our control.” - Olivia Sudjic, author of Exposure