A vital and timely book about inspirational nurses, and the bravery of patients and families, from the bestselling author of The Language of Kindness

"The handbook for compassion... a must-read book" Chris Evans

Nurses have never been more important. We benefit from their expertise in our hospitals and beyond: in our schools, on our streets, in prisons, hospices and care homes. When we feel most alone, nurses remind us that we are not alone at all.

In The Courage to Care bestselling author Christie Watson reveals the remarkable extent of nurses' work. A community mental-health nurse choreographs support for a man suffering from severe depression. A teen with stab wounds is treated by the critical-care team; his school nurse visits and he drops the bravado. A pregnant woman loses frightening amounts of blood following a car accident; it is a military nurse who synchronises the emergency department into immaculate order and focus.

Christie makes a further discovery: that, time and again, it is patients and their families - including her own - who show exceptional strength in the most challenging times. We are all deserving of compassion, and as we share in each other's suffering, Christie Watson shows us how we can find courage too. The courage to care.

"I loved The Courage to Care - Christie Watson writes so tenderly and truthfully. It is a spirit-lifting read" Jacqueline Wilson

A vital and timely book about inspirational nurses, and the bravery of patients and families, from the bestselling author of The Language of Kindness

About the Author
Christie Watson's first novel, Tiny Sunbirds Far Away, won the Costa First Novel Award; her second, Where Women Are Kings, achieved international critical acclaim; and her nursing memoir, The Language of Kindness, was a number one bestseller. In 2020, during the first peak of the pandemic, she published The Courage to Care and briefly returned to clinical work. Christie was shocked not only by the changing world, but her changing body, as her perimenopause took hold. Quilt on Fire, her fifth book, is the funny, honest and liberating account of her midlife journey.

Reviews
The handbook for compassion... a must-read book -- Chris Evans
She repeatedly finds the beam of light in the darkest rooms... Watson is a terrific guide to the gritty reality of hospital life... We have never needed their [nurses'] expertise more than we do now -- Helen Brown * Daily Telegraph *
Now more than ever, nurses are on our minds and in our hearts. Christie writes with beauty and compassion about how they do their jobs. When I wasn't crying, I was marvelling -- Tracy Chevalier, author of A Single Thread
Magnificent... timely and resonant... In these unprecedented times, Watson challenges the rest of us to be more like nurses and to find the courage to care, no matter who is in need -- Caroline Sanderson * Sunday Express *
An inspiring book for our challenging times. It's never been more important to care for one another and the amazing Christie Watson shows us the way -- Olivia Colman
Watson writes with wry humour and a cheerful, conversational tone, but the world of care she describes - mental health wards, dying children or neglected elderly patients - is often hard to bear... [The Courage to Care] is a love letter to her profession; her admiration for her colleagues shines through every story -- Stephanie Merritt * Observer *
In this timely read, Watson, a former nurse who returned to work in critical care during the coronavirus peak, tells stories both heart-in-mouth and humbling. She reveals the extraordinary, beyond-the-call-of-duty work that nurses do, and the bravery of the patients and families they care for * Daily Mirror *
I loved The Courage to Care - Christie Watson writes so tenderly and truthfully. It is a spirit-lifting read -- Jacqueline Wilson
Watson has an unflinching eye for detail, and her ability to put the reader in the room means that we too bear witness... As Watson explains in her introduction, she has been talking and writing about the importance of nurses for years, but Covid-19 - which came along as she was making her final edits to the book - has made her subject more poignant and timely -- Cathy Rentzenbrink * The Times *
Inspirational * Mail on Sunday *
Generous, intimate and insightful. The Courage to Care is persuasive and powerful as a memoir of a remarkable twenty-year career, and also an adventure story through the shifting landscape of NHS nursing. This book shows why nurses top the polls every year as the most trusted, reliable professionals. -- Dr Gavin Francis
Christie's a former nurse and she's such a powerful writer on caring and what it means to do it -- Jane Garvey * i *
Christie Watson writes with clarity, generosity and wisdom; her words make us feel less alone -- Joanna Cannon, author of Breaking and Mending
This beautiful book captures magnificently the rawness, courage and tenderness of nursing. It made me cry, smile and gasp out loud. It sings with humanity -- Rachel Clarke, author of Dear Life
A call to arms and soul-baring personal odyssey, this book will set hearts and minds on fire. Very few writers can make you care this much, and make you laugh, bawl and stay up all night reading to the final page. Christie Watson writes with the sharpest wit, the finest observations, and has a heart as deep and wild as a river -- Emma Jane Unsworth, author of Adults



Book Information
ISBN 9781784742980
Author Christie Watson
Format Hardback
Page Count 272
Imprint Chatto & Windus
Publisher Vintage Publishing
Weight(grams) 383g
Dimensions(mm) 224mm * 145mm * 30mm