Pan Macmillan acquires memoir by Tessa Cunningham

Pan Macmillan has acquired a memoir by journalist Tessa Cunningham about caring for her 95-year-old father, with the publisher saying it "will speak to a generation who are finding themselves caring for their children and their elderly parents at the same time".

Editorial director Ingrid Connell acquired the memoir, with title to be confirmed, pre-empting UK and Commonwealth rights from Jonathan Conway. Pan Mac plans to publish in June 2012.

Cunningham writes primarily for the Daily Mail. Even though she was going through a divorce and recovering from breast cancer, when her father fell and broke his hip Cunningham realised that he couldn't live on his own, and she moved him into her house. The book will give an account of the months that followed, as Cunningham and her father each helped the other to recover.

Connell said: "Tessa’s funny, touching and inspirational memoir will speak to a generation who are finding themselves caring for their children and their elderly parents at the same time. Tessa and her father have an incredible bond and through their relationship, which inevitably sees changes to the traditional roles of parent, child and carer, she finds the true value of contentment."