So many of will be called on to care for those we love in our lifetimes. And we also face a crisis in care as a country, with carework chronically underpaid, and the caring labours of women so often taken for granted. Stroud Book Festival is pleased to welcome two acclaimed authors to discuss what it means to care, both as individuals, and as a nation. 

In her latest non-fiction “An Extra Pair of Hands”, bestselling novelist and Founder Director of the Womens’ Prize for Fiction Kate Mosse tells her own moving personal story of finding herself a carer in middle-age; both for her parents, and later for her 90-year-old mother-in-law. 

And in her Orwell Prize shortlisted book “Labours of Love”, novelist and non-fiction writer Madeleine Bunting blends her own personal experience with the testimonies of charity workers, doctors, social workers, in-home carers, nurses and more as she issues a clarion call for change in how we regard the act of caring. 

Join us for what promises to be a highly illuminating and compassionate discussion.