Our parents are a huge deal: whether we adore them or keep them at a distance, who we are today (what love stories we get into, our attitudes to work, our self-esteem) is crucially determined by our relationships with the vastly significant people who put us on the earth.

Getting Over Your Parents is a practical guide on how to navigate the often complex legacies left to us by our parents. It gives us a vocabulary with which to understand certain of the stranger and more difficult things that parents sometimes do to their children - as well as advice on how to move forward from our puzzles or confusions. The emphasis is never on blame, always simply on understanding.

The book recognises that while some of us wouldn't want to change very much about our childhoods, many more of us hope to get to grips with particular things that unfolded decades ago.

This book helps us to explore the past so that we can secure for ourselves the more creative, calm and loving future we deserve.