The Language of Kindness

Christie Watson is a remarkable writer turning her attention to a crucially important conversation. This book is eloquent, moving and searingly relevant to all of us

Nathan Filer, author of The Shock of the Fall

I was enthralled from the start. Nurses’ voices are rarely heard and Christie is so honest, wise and observant of people that she is just the person to do their story justice. And of course she writes beautifully. The image that stayed with me long after I had put the book down was of the nurse always with the patient, even after everybody else has gone

Suzanne O'Sullivan, author of It's All in Your Head

A remarkable book. I learned more in chapter 3 than I have in all the other books I’ve read this year. Watson illustrates why a nurse has a harder job than 99 per cent of lawyers (I am one) and deserves to be paid more. Absolutely brilliant!

Clive Stafford Smith OBE, human rights lawyer

Christie Watson shines the wisest of lights on the daily practice of caring for others. She celebrates kindness that is rooted in true respect for human dignity and equality – a kindness without which society would be a much sadder place. This piercingly tender book will make you laugh, cry and reflect on what life is all about

Nicky Parker, publisher at Amnesty International UK

Moving, eloquent, funny, inspiring -- an urgent book for our times

Sarah Bakewell, author of At the Existentialist Cafe

A remarkable book… Watson illustrates why a nurse has a harder job than 99 per cent of lawyers (I am one) and deserves to be paid more. Absolutely brilliant!

Clive Stafford Smith OBE, human rights lawyer

If you want to know what nursing is, then read this book

Robert Sowney, Chair, RCN Foundation

Christie Watson’s book brings home the incredible strength and determination that nurses working in our critically underfunded NHS must possess – and how wildly underappreciated they are

Rachael Jolley, Editor, Index on Censorship

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

The award-winning novelist writes about her 20 years as a nurse, taking us from life to death of the wards in a moving account

Hannah Beckerman, Sunday Express

Profoundly moving... urging us all to lead a life of greater compassion

Charlotte Heathcote and Jon Coates, Daily Express

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

Dr Gavin Francis, author of Adventures in Human Being

A remarkable book about life and death and so brilliantly written it makes you hold your breath

Ruby Wax

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

An amazing book -- terrifying at times, but tender and truthful. Let's be thankful for wonderful nurses -- and writers -- like Christie Watson

Jacqueline Wilson

A remarkable reflection on care, empathy and compassion ... packs massive emotional impact ... I urge you to read it

Caroline Sanderson, The Bookseller

Christie Watson writes with the fullness of her heart to give us insight into the world of patients and nursing, inspiring us to recognise it is how we treat people, how we speak and respond to them, as well as what we do, that heals. Its message of self-compassion and kindness is as useful for those of us outside the medical world, as in it

Julia Samuel, author of Grief Works

An engaging and authentic portrait of modern care ... Through Watson’s inclusion of relevant statistics and historical facts, as well as her meticulous observation skills, readers will better understand the value of nurses

Library Journal

A remarkable book - intelligent, impassioned, consistently moving - that can’t help but make readers revisit the sharpest spikes of life, where nurses often are. Christie Watson looks directly at the fragility of human existence, and the importance of what we choose to value. I can't think of many better uses of writing, nor of writing more likely to make me a better person

Richard Beard

This is a phenomenal book, a love song for the NHS and its staff - the hundreds of millions of us who have gained from it throughout our lives have Christie Watson to thank for delivering it on our behalf. Passionate, political, heartbreaking, it is beautifully written in the fiercely honest language of kindness itself

Stella Duffy

An astonishing account of a profession defined by acts of care, compassion and kindness, and an urgent reminder of the need for these qualities in the NHS - and everyday life - from a nurse with 20 years' experience

Red Magazine

This tender, truth-telling memoir will break your heart into little pieces ... This book is a salient reminder that at some point we are all going to need care and we can only hope we'll get someone like Christie who understands the need for "sympathy, compassion, empathy" in our most vulnerable moments

Eithne Farry, The Simple Things

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 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 England

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

Gripping and tender

Radio Times

Watson writes so well, movingly but sparingly, that the result is a profoundly vivid impression of working in a busy hospital

Jessamy Calkin, The Daily Telegraph

Through Watson, we are taken on an absorbing, all-seeing tour through the doors of the hospital ... In Watson's honest memoir, we are reminded that we are all made from the same fibres and are all in this together, exploring the human condition and learning the language of kindness

Molly Case, The Observer

[Watson] writes with such considered awareness of medical procedure and resources, human frailty and resilience, that you know she dug deep for this book ... You are also privy to an extraordinary world and appreciate Watson's lasting belief: that most of us are inherently kind - and the better for showing it

Kerry Fowler, Sainsbury's Magazine

A highly intelligent writer bringing all her narrative skills to bear on a profession in which she spent 20 years ... what emerges time and again is that nursing is about so much more than medicine ... Christie Watson is a wonderful writer. But I can't help thinking she was an even better nurse

Melanie McDonagh, Evening Standard

The Language of Kindness is teeming with humanity ... [It] puts other memoirs to shame, by narrating an ordinary working life which nevertheless confronts the dark, the sublime, the transcendental

Roisin Kiberd, Sunday Business Post

It's that combination of fierce compassion and unflinching honesty about the human cost of nursing which makes this such a compelling and universally relevant book. It couldn't be more topical, or timeless, and the fact that it's written with an elegant grace that makes it a joy to read doesn't hurt either

Eilis O'Hanlon, Irish Independent

A highly emotional and eloquent retelling of different patients, staffers, experiences and departments ... A much-needed human voice

Tanya Sweeney, The Irish Times

Lyrical, moving ... Watson tackles grisly deaths and eccentric patients, but also the importance of comfort and empathy in nursing with engrossing results ... A nurse's voice has never really been heard before on this scale. Now's the time for it to ring out loud

Stylist

An eye-opener ... written with real tenderness

Good Housekeeping

A touching and thought-provoking memoir that makes an impassioned plea for the appreciation of the nursing profession ... [Watson] is an elegant, eloquent writer who brings an immediacy to her work. You are right there beside her all the way as she provides a fascinating insight into the trials and triumphs of life in an NHS hospital ... A rallying call for kindness and compassion that every one of us should embrace

Mernie Gilmore, Daily Express

Terrifically moving memoir of caring and compassion on the nursing front line

Sunday Times

As Watson observes, the ability to step into another’s shoes is essential for both nurse and novelist. So too is an eagle eye, and it is the details that prove so unforgettable ... I found myself compelled to go back, and freshly moved and humbled

Stephanie Cross, The Lady

I defy anyone to finish this without weeping and giving thanks to the NHS ... An important book that should be on every reading list

Fanny Blake, Woman & Home

Hypnotic prose ... quiet brilliance ... This is a wake-up book in the best possible way, a study in-the-round: amusing, hilarious even, enthralling and sad, and definitely an indictment of our time

The Arts Desk

More than a memoir, The Language of Kindness exerts the power of a gripping novel threaded with science, philosophy, history and ethics. Like poetry, it resists paraphrase. A quick summary is out of the question, this brilliant life-changing book has to be experienced ... Watson is a funny, totally loveable narrator but this book is a serious shock to the system -- a journey to the underworld, our hard-working guide an observant Virgil to the 21st century

Martina Evans, Irish Times

We hear far less often from nurses and therapists… It’s time we heard their side of the story. And who better to tell it than this nurse-turned-award-winning literary novelist.

Charlotte Heathcote, Sunday Express

Her book makes harrowing, heart-rendering reading.

Helen Brown, Daily Mail

Anecdotal story-telling wrapped up in hypnotic prose… This is a wake-up book in the best possible way, a study in-the-round: amusing, hilarious even, enthralling and sad, and definitely an indictment of our time.

Marina Vaizey, The Arts Desk

Remarkable, unforgettable... This page-turning account of how nurses routinely dig deep into their souls to dispense care and compassion in increasingly challenging conditions also packs a massive emotional punch... A remarkable reflection on care, empathy and compassion

Caroline Sanderson, Sunday Express

There’s one woman who is particularly inspiring me right now…. Christie Watson, who wrote this book called The Language of Kindness... She was an NHS nurse and it is an autobiographical book and it is absolutely breath-taking and it is incredibly affecting and I think it highlights the need for us to be helping nurses where we can. She just is an incredibly strong woman

Emilia Clarke

The Language of Kindness flows so beautifully, and naturally. Christie adds real warmth to very factual, and medical information … I urge all of you to read this book

Five Little Doves

[Watson] beautifully describes the life-affirming impact of nurses doing and saying the right thing

Strong Words

[Watson] tells us things we need to know

Chisholm, The Tablet

[The Language of Kindness is] a tender and beautifully written account of how this process – learning how to be kind – challenges, teaches, sometimes harms, and then completes a person

Peter Dorward, Telegraph

At the heart of Christie Watson’s philanthropic memoir…lies a remarkable thesis on life, death and the kaleidoscopic narratives…that weave us together

Kat Lister, The Pool

This stunning read reminds us that nurses are human after all

Jude Rogers, Mail on Sunday

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

Christie Watson's memoir of 20 years as an NHS nurse is completely absorbing. The best books tell us about life as well as lives and I've read nothing recently that I found so moving and, even in its descriptions of suffering and death, so uplifting. Watson has an eye for detail that is practical, compassionate and very often funny

Lucy Lethbridge, The Tablet

Christie captures life as a nurse in the humblest manner, and anyone in or considering nursing is encouraged to read it

Julia Williams, Gastrointestinal Nursing

Watson’s prose…fizzes with real life, each story and encounter containing its own epic narrative sweep

Lucy Lethbridge, The Oldie

A powerful insight into the life of nurses

Robbie Millen, The Times, **Books of the Year**

A deeply compassionate book… It will leave you weeping as well as hopeful

Helen Davies, Sunday Times, **Books of the Year**

Compared with the recent rash of doctor memoirs, this is a far quieter and more thoughtful book

Kathryn Hughes, Guardian, **Books of the Year**

This brilliant and profound book left an indelible mark on me this year

Ian Birrell

Wonderful

Sebastian Faulks

Moving and compassionate…The Language of Kindness… is a sensitive, perceptive and blunt account of a nurse’s journey

Richard Barr, Solicitors Journal

An astounding account of life as a nurse

Liz Nice, Eastern Daily Press

The Language of Kindness exerts the power of a gripping novel threaded with science, philosophy, history and ethics. Like poetry, it resists paraphrase. A quick summary is out of the question, this brilliant life-changing book has to be experienced.

Martina Evans, Irish Times

Watson evokes the topography of each arm of nursing in vivid detail.

Irish Times

I defy anyone to finish this without weeping and giving thanks for the NHS… An important book that should be on every reading list.

Fanny Blake, Woman & Home

[A] powerful account of her life as a nurse… reading her memoir is a truly uplifting experience.

Jacqueline Wilson, The Week

[Watson] is an elegant, eloquent writer who brings an immediacy to her work. You are right there beside her all the way as she provides a fascinating insight into the trails and triumphs of life in an NHS hospital… a rallying call for kindness and compassion that every one of us should embrace.

Mernie Gilmore, Sunday Express

A nurse’s voice has never really been heard before on this scale. Now’s the time for it to ring loud.

Stylist

Watson writes so well, movingly but sparingly, that the result is a profoundly vivid impression of working in a busy hospital

Jessamy Calk, Daily Telegraph

Through Watson, we are taken on an absorbing, all-seeing tour through the doors of the hospital

Molly Case, Guardian

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, New York Times Book Review