This short book is the story of Michael Rosens experience of Covid, his life threatening illness and slow recovery.
It is written in the form of encouraging notes left in a notebook for him by nurses at his bedside while he was in a coma, then prose poems about his awakening and recovery. It also has amazing illustrations by Chris Riddell. It is in turns scary, touching, very laugh out loud funny and just a very incredible diary of the NHS and one mans battle with an insentient virus. My copy is signed by him which I am very happy about.
As well as the COVID related detail I was very impressed by the talk about ageing. In fact, although Michael Rosen is only 74, and I think Covid recovery made him feel older than his years, a lot of the comments made in this book apply to the difficulties of ageing and the way older people are treated.
All in all I thought this was a brilliant read and a very poignant document of unprecedented times.