Christie Watson was a registered nurse for twenty years before writing full time. Her first novel, Tiny Sunbirds Far Away, won the Costa First Novel Award and her second novel, Where Women Are Kings, was also published to international critical acclaim. Her works have been translated to eighteen languages. She lives in London.
Named one of the Best Books of 2018 by The Guardian and The Sunday
Times
“With grit and wisdom, this memoir of life as a nurse encompasses
birth, death, and the unpredictable workings of minds and bodies in
between. . . . Watson, who worked in British hospitals for twenty
years before becoming a novelist, recounts the crises, triumphs,
and uncertainties inherent in nursing others.” —The New Yorker
“I challenge anyone to get through all 336 pages without weeping. .
. . Expect Watson’s stories of patients like Tommy and Katie to
linger with you many days after the final chapter.”
—The Sunday Times
“Powerful. . . . An absorbing, all-seeing tour through the doors of
the hospital.” —Molly Case, The Observer
“Christie Watson is a lovely writer—and, judging from this book, a
gifted nurse." —The New York Times
“Tender and beautifully written. . . . A love letter to a
profession whose values are threatened.” —The Daily Telegraph
"Christie Watson is an inspiration. This book is
breath-taking." —Emilia Clarke
“This brilliant, life-changing book has to be experienced. . . .
More than a memoir, The Language of Kindness exerts the power of a
gripping novel.” —The Irish Times
"There is so much love in this book that it makes the tears
bearable. Christie Watson has written a beautiful and lyrical
account of the true meaning of a nurse's life." —Amanda
Foreman, author of A World on Fire
“Many doctors have been distinguished writers. . . .But we haven’t
heard enough from nurses, whose world is just as arcane and
important. . . .The Language of Kindness could not be more
compelling or more welcome: It’s about how we survive, and about
the people who help us do so.” —Roxana Robinson, The New
York Times Book Review
"Moving, eloquent, funny, inspiring—an urgent book for our times."
—Sarah Bakewell, author of At the Existentialist Café
“The Language of Kindness has thoroughly resuscitated my faith in
the genre. . . . 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.” —Adam Kay, The Guardian
“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. . . . In both her nursing and her
writing Watson achieves what we might call a state of grace. . .
. An important guide to what a healthy society should value.”
—Allison Pearson, The Sunday Telegraph
“This book is a timely reminder that in addition to the ever-
increasing demands on nurses as medical professionals, they also
have 'soul skills': dignity, peace, compassion, humanity. After
reading this book, you’ll feel there is no more awe-inspiring
display of kindness than to be a nurse.” —Spirituality &
Health
“Harrowing, heart-rending reading. . . . [an] eloquent, tender and
brave book.” —Literary Review
“A wise and tender book, by turns fierce, compassionate, and
revelatory. It shows the joys and the difficulties of looking
after people at their most vulnerable, and makes an urgent plea: as
a society we have to care better for the nurses who care for us.”
—Gavin Francis, author of Adventures in Human Being
“This beautiful memoir—tender, informative, unflinching, every
sentence filled with compassion, has reminded me that when I have
felt most alone I am of course not alone at all.” —Rachel
Joyce, author of The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry
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