A compassionate, heartbreaking and compelling account of an NHS doctor in the midst of the greatest public health crisis in living memory, with a new introduction from Michael Rosen - now a major TV drama

THE SUNDAY TIMES TOP TEN BESTSELLER
NOW A MAJOR TV DRAMA

'The next Mr Bates v the Post Office poised to shake up Britain' Big Issue

'If you're wondering whether to turn the page and read it, my message is simple: please do' Michael Rosen

'A book replete with courage and empathy' Observer

How does it feel to confront a pandemic from the inside, one patient at a time? To bridge the gulf between a perilously unwell patient in quarantine and their distraught family outside? To be uncertain whether the protective equipment you wear fits the science or the size of the government stockpile? To strive your utmost to maintain your humanity even while barricaded behind visors and masks?

Rachel is a palliative care doctor who looked after the most gravely unwell patients on the Covid-19 wards of her hospital. Amid the tensions, fatigue and rising death toll, she witnessed the courage of patients and NHS staff alike in conditions of unprecedented adversity. For all the bleakness and fear, she found that moments that could stop you in your tracks abounded. People who rose to their best, upon facing the worst, as a microbe laid waste to the population.

With a new introduction from Michael Rosen

'With Breathtaking, the palliative care specialist turns her attention to Covid, in a raw and unflinching portrayal of life on the frontline of the pandemic...Deeply humane, Breathtaking is a book replete with courage, resilience and empathy.'