The Language of Kindness
A Nurse's Story
Published on 3. January 2019
Book
Paperback/Softback
352 pages
978-1-78470-688-3 (ISBN)
Description
Read Costa Award-winning author Christie Watson's incredible No. 1 Sunday Times bestselling memoir of nursing today.
'It made me cry. It made me think. It made me laugh' Adam Kay, author of This is Going to Hurt and Twas the Nightshift Before Christmas
Christie Watson was a nurse for twenty years. Taking us from birth to death and from A&E to the mortuary, The Language of Kindness is an astounding account of a profession defined by acts of care, compassion and kindness.
We watch Christie as she nurses a premature baby who has miraculously made it through the night, we stand by her side during her patient's agonising heart-lung transplant, and we hold our breath as she washes the hair of a child fatally injured in a fire, attempting to remove the toxic smell of smoke before the grieving family arrive.
In our most extreme moments, when life is lived most intensely, Christie is with us. She is a guide, mentor and friend. And in these dark days of division and isolationism, she encourages us all to stretch out a hand.
'A powerful insight into the life of nurses' The Times, Books of the Year
'A remarkable book about life and death and so brilliantly written it makes you hold your breath' Ruby Wax
'It made me cry. It made me think. It made me laugh' Adam Kay, author of This is Going to Hurt and Twas the Nightshift Before Christmas
Christie Watson was a nurse for twenty years. Taking us from birth to death and from A&E to the mortuary, The Language of Kindness is an astounding account of a profession defined by acts of care, compassion and kindness.
We watch Christie as she nurses a premature baby who has miraculously made it through the night, we stand by her side during her patient's agonising heart-lung transplant, and we hold our breath as she washes the hair of a child fatally injured in a fire, attempting to remove the toxic smell of smoke before the grieving family arrive.
In our most extreme moments, when life is lived most intensely, Christie is with us. She is a guide, mentor and friend. And in these dark days of division and isolationism, she encourages us all to stretch out a hand.
'A powerful insight into the life of nurses' The Times, Books of the Year
'A remarkable book about life and death and so brilliantly written it makes you hold your breath' Ruby Wax
Reviews / Votes
If it's taken a very long time to get a memoir written by a nurse, then it was certainly worth the wait. I have rarely read anything that has moved me as much or taken me by the hand so confidently into an unknown world, teeming with life and haunted by death... A remarkable book that I will be pressing on everyone I love -- Allison Pearson * The Sunday Telegraph * A powerful insight into the life of nurses -- Robbie Millen * The Times, **Books of the Year** * It made me cry. It made me think. It made me laugh. It encouraged me to appreciate this most underappreciated of professions more than ever ... A gently remarkable book... it's a privilege to have Christie as our guide -- Adam Kay * Guardian * Wonderful -- Sebastian Faulks A deeply compassionate book... It will leave you weeping as well as hopeful -- Helen Davies * Sunday Times, **Books of the Year** * An amazing book -- terrifying at times, but tender and truthful. Let's be thankful for wonderful nurses -- and writers -- like Christie Watson -- Jacqueline Wilson Compared with the recent rash of doctor memoirs, this is a far quieter and more thoughtful book -- Kathryn Hughes * Guardian, **Books of the Year** * I challenge anyone to get through all 336 pages without shedding a tear for what those who work in "the most undervalued of all professions" have to witness ... Expect her stories [...] to linger with you many days after the final chapter -- Jackie Annesley * The Sunday Times * A remarkable book about life and death and so brilliantly written it makes you hold your breath -- Ruby Wax A poignant and powerful account of what it's like to be a nurse. It's a profession that touches all our lives delivering expert and compassionate care from the cradle to the grave. A must-read for nurses and those interested in understanding the true art and science of nursing -- Professor Jane Cummings, Chief Nursing Officer for EnglandMore details
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Publishing group
Vintage Publishing
Product notice
Paperback (UK-B)
Dimensions
Height: 198 mm
Width: 128 mm
Thickness: 27 mm
Weight
250 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-78470-688-3 (9781784706883)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
E-Book
05/2018
Vintage Digital
€9.49
Available for download
Person
Christie Watson is Professor of Medical Humanities at UEA and worked as an NHS nurse for over twenty years. She has written seven books, including her first novel Tiny Sunbirds Far Away, which won the Costa First Novel Award, and memoir, The Language of Kindness which was a number one Sunday Times bestseller. Christie is a contributor to The Times, Sunday Times, Guardian, Daily Telegraph and TEDx, and her work has been translated into 23 languages and adapted for theatre.