My mad dad / Robyn Hollingworth.

At some point the cared for become the carers; the only way to avoid this is to live alone in the wilderness. So we end up having to care for the people who had cared for us, and this isn't a shame and it isn't a tragedy and it isn't a chore. It is an honour. To be able to return the gift of love that someone bestows upon you is a gift in itself. This is a story of caring...'At the age of twenty-five Robyn Hollingworth finds herself leaving London to return home to rural South Wales. It's her old life - same teddy bears resting on her pillow, their bodies tucked under the duvet; same view of the garages behind which she'd had her first cigarette and first kiss - but so much has changed. Her father, the proud, charmingly intelligent, self-made man who made people laugh, was in the grip of early onset Alzheimer's. His brilliant mind, which saw him building power stations and literally bringing light into the lives of others, had succumbed to darkness. As Robyn settles back in the rhythms of life in the rain-soaked vast Welsh valleys, she keeps a diary charting her journey from cared-for to carer. Lyrical, poignant and with flashes of brilliant humour, My Mad Dad explores how in helping others we can heal ourselves.