Ladysitting

My Year with Nana at the End of Her Century

By: Lorene Cary

Narrated by: Lorene Cary

Lorene Cary's grandmother moves in, and everything changes: day-to-day life, family relationships, the Nana she knew - even their shared past.

From cherished memories of weekends she spent as a child with her indulgent Nana to the reality of the year she spent "ladysitting" her now frail grandmother, Lorene Cary journeys through stories of their time together and five generations of their African American family. Brilliantly weaving a narrative of her relationship with Nana - a fierce, stubborn, and independent woman, who managed a business until she was 100 - Cary looks at Nana's impulse to control people and fate, from the early death of her mother and oppression in the Jim Crow South to living on her own in her New Jersey home.

Cary knew there might be some reckonings to come. Nana was a force: Her obstinacy could come out in unanticipated ways-secretly getting a driver's license to show up her husband, carrying on a longtime feud with Cary's father. But Nana could also be devoted: to Nana's father, to Black causes, and - Cary had thought - to her grandchildren and great-grandchildren. Facing the inevitable end raises tensions, with Cary drawing on her spirituality and Nana consoling herself with late-night sweets. When Nana doubts Cary's dedication, Cary must go deeper into understanding this complicated woman.

©2019 Lorene Cary (P)2019 HighBridge, a division of Recorded Books

a must read for anyone who's cared for a loved one

Ms. Carey so perfectly captures the love and frustration, absurdities, pain, and humor of caring for an aging loved one through their final time on earth. She's also a very fine narrator who's lovely voice graces her writing with charm and depth.

Hits Close To Home

The author's care of her Nana was eerily similar to what I went through with my grandmother, so I found this book sad but also really comforting. And I've never felt so seen or understood as I did whenever checking the water level on Nana's steam boiler was mentioned in a chapter. 

memoir resonates

The memoir will resonate to anyone who has cared for an elder. The story is told with humor and love. The author does an excellent job of conveying her Nanna's voice.

Awesome

Great book! Captures the life cycle brilliantly! Thanks for sharing your family with us! I hated for it to end!

Simply beautiful

I loved this book. It reminded me of the journey that I took with my “Mommom” as she entered her 80s. We had a loving, caring relationship that I too came to see differently in the end;not bad or good but more realistically. I enjoyed Lorene’s humor. The book is well written.