For a moving account of frontline nursing during the pandemic, turn to Life, Death and Biscuits by Anthea Allen, a Sunday Times bestseller. This memoir offers an intimate look at the challenges faced by ICU nurses.
An extraordinarily powerful memoir based on the diaries of intensive care nurse Anthea Allen, who worked on the front line of one of the largest hospitals in Europe during the Covid crisis.
A nurse for 25 years, Anthea thought she had seen it all. But with Covid came the greatest trial, personally and professionally, of her life. Thrust into hourly challenges - many a matter of life and death - while on the Critical Care units of St George's in south London, Anthea processed her shocking experiences through writing. It started with an email to request biscuits. But her appeal to help boost the morale of her fellow nurses soon turned into a series of astonishingly moving stories detailing the realities of being a front line worker.
It wasn't long before Anthea's accounts were circulating far and wide, capturing the attention of the nation and being feted by the likes of Richard Branson and Good Morning Britain's Susanna Reid.
In Life, Death and Biscuits, Anthea reveals the human story behind Covid, sharing tales of hope, fear and laughter from both her 'family' of nurses and the patients she encountered. Forged in a crisis, this deeply affecting memoir offers a unique and inspiring perspective on the pandemic that simultaneously tore the world apart and brought us together. Both heart-wrenching and uplifting, it serves as a testimony to love, resilience and the human spirit.
As a child, Anthea Allen dreamt of becoming a nurse. She began her training in 1991, and five years later joined the team on ICU at St George's Hospital in Tooting, southwest London, where she still works as a senior sister. She is also responsible for recruiting nurses for the hospital's adult Critical Care units. Anthea is a marathon runner and lives in London with her partner, their two children and three cats. Life, Death and Biscuits is her first book.
