Writers on Caring for Family, edited by Nell Casey. Writing in the New York Times Book Review, Joyce Johnson finds much to admire in a collection of essays by writers about the peculiarly solitary and often harrowing role of “caregiver” in today’s society. An excerpt:

“Caregiver” is a deceptively professional-sounding term for a role in which most of us are complete amateurs, and for one that is apt to descend upon us like a blow from fate, stunning and unforeseen.

… Our society would rather not focus on this area of experience and makes little provision for it. In the past, when families were much larger and life was more often cut short by disease, caregiving was more integrated into normal life. Women were brought up to become the selfless angels of the household, the built-in care system in any emergency

… Today’s caregivers are likely to find themselves peculiarly alone, exiles from the busy, heedless life around them …

… We may still believe in the healing power of love, but extreme reality can dispense shocking lessons. The hardest one, as this collection shows us, can be that love and devotion do not necessarily alleviate suffering.

Joyce Johnson is the author of the memoirs “Missing Men” and “Minor Characters.”

This entry was posted on Sunday, February 17th, 2008 at 6:50 pm and is filed under books, caregivers, chronic illness, families, first-person, personal stories. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.  Email This Post