Past Caring

Actress Audrey Jenkinson had just landed her big break in the BBC television series Trainer when she received the devastating news that her mother had suffered a stroke and her father was diagnosed with cancer. With both parents requiring constant care, she was forced to put her life and career on hold and return home to Edinburgh to nurse them through their final months. In Past Caring, Audrey describes how she tried to cope with her parents' deaths and recalls the 'void' she felt at the time. I was burnt out, lost, had no interest in what had once been my career, she says. I wondered how others coped in similar situations but when I discovered there were no books on the subject, I decided to write one. She travelled throughout the UK, interviewing former carers and asking them how they rebuilt their lives. The stories I heard were both fascinating and uplifting, and I knew other people would find them interesting and helpful. Past Caring also includes a twelve-step recovery guide based on what past carers told her.