Winner 2009
Keeper: Living with Nancy - a journey into Alzheimer's by Andrea Gillies
A thoughtful and moving book that takes the reader on a journey into dementia won the first £25 000 Wellcome Trust Book Prize.
Andrea Gillies's book 'Keeper: Living with Nancy - a journey into Alzheimer's' (Short Books) - which is about the author’s decision to take on the full-time care of her mother-in-law, an Alzheimer's sufferer - beat a shortlist of five other books.
'Keeper' is a very humane and honest exploration of living with Alzheimer's giving an illuminating account of the disease itself.
Jo Brand, comedienne and former psychiatric nurse chaired the judging panel and made the announcement at an awards ceremony at the Wellcome Collection, London. She said:
"Andrea Gillies’s account of living with Alzheimer’s is the perfect fusion of narrative with enough memorable science not to choke you. It’s a fantastic book - down to earth and darkly comic in places. The judges found it compelling".
Looking after a relative with Alzheimer’s disease both opened Andrea Gillies’ eyes to the demands of the role and changed her as a person. Find out more about how she immortalised her experience in ‘Keeper’ in our feature 'My life as a carer'.
'Keeper' subsequently won the 2010 Orwell Book Prize - the pre-eminent British prize for political writing.
Reviews
The caregiver's bookshelf (The New York Times, 20 August 2010)
The raw horror of Alzheimer's (Guardian, 1 June 2010)
Carer and keeper (The Lancet, 12 December 2009)
