** Winner of the 2006 MIND Book Award**
In Michele Hanson's bittersweet columns in the Guardian, collected here, she explored the physical deterioration of her spirited and resilient elderly mother. From bowel trouble to views on Camilla Parker-Bowles, life is never dull in the Household from Hell.

A glamorous and much-admired young woman, in old age Michele's mother still has power over everyone she meets. She alternately despairs of and adores her
grand-daughter and treats her daughter, now sixty-three, as though she is twelve. Michele observes the very slow decline of her mother, as she changes from vibrant, bossy, hilarious fault-finder general and head chef to frail, bedridden, helpless, speechless, but still formidable and brave old lady - who is able, to the very end, to have a laugh. Also included here is a piece by Amy, Michele's daughter, by turns hilarious and touching, about living with her grandmother and coping with the changes that come. Speaking with emotional candour and gentle poignancy, Michele tells it like it is: somewhere between anguish and hope, tragedy and comedy, tears and laughter.

Gathered from her popular Guardian columns, this is a story - all too familiar - of taking care of an aging parent, told with wonderful dark humour

About the Author
Michele Hanson is an author and Guardian columnist. Her memoir, What the Grown-ups Were Doing, is published by Simon & Schuster

Reviews
For Treasure: 'Inspired, deadpan reflections on life as the mother of a teenager ...her work is also, at a deeper level, about parental passion, family tolerance, forgiveness and love' Mail on Sunday


Awards
Winner of Mind Book of the Year Award 2007 (UK).



Book Information
ISBN 9781844083848
Author Michele Hanson
Format Paperback
Page Count 320
Imprint Virago Press Ltd
Publisher Little, Brown Book Group
Weight(grams) 420g
Dimensions(mm) 234mm * 153mm * 20mm