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Breathtaking
Breathtaking | Rachel Clarke
3 posts | 2 read | 2 to read
When the once-in-a-century pandemic struck, it didn't matter that it was predicted and expected - nor even that we had watched it before, playing out in multiplexes over popcorn. We ambled, half-asleep, into disaster. In the first three months of 2020, perplexity drifted into mild concern that suddenly sheered into panic. Economies nose-dived. Schools workplaces closed. Populations hid inside their homes. Whole societies shut down. In most people's living memory, no crisis had caused such global upheaval so swiftly and so comprehensively. The scale and pace of the pandemic were stunning.As a palliative care doctor, Rachel Clarke found herself spending less time in the hospice and more in the hospital. Unable to convey the intensity of her days on the wards to friends and family, by night, she wrote about what she and her colleagues were going through. Breathtaking is her inside story of how the health service responded. But when she looked back over her writing, she found that what she had thought was an unrelenting stream of death and darkness was in fact illuminated by pinpricks of light. The curtailing of human contact, it seemed, was a reminder of precisely how precious it was, and just how far a little of it could go. Breathtaking depicts life, death, hope, fear, medicine at its most impotent and also at its finest, the courage of patients in enormous adversity, the stress of being torn between helping those patients and endangering your spouse and children, the long fretful nights ruminating over whether the PPE you wear fits the science or the size of the government stockpile. Faltering, fumbling, tenacious, undaunted, this is medicine in the time of coronavirus.
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review
RaeLovesToRead
Breathtaking | Rachel Clarke
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Mehso-so

Overall, this was a decent piece of writing. It captured very vividly the experiences and struggles of frontline NHS staff and brought the horrors of COVID to life.

I felt there was a bit too much emphasis on the political side of things, without the in depth, balanced analysis required to make it well-argued polemic, but the human side of these stories was very moving.

I expected a bit more breadth in the case studies, but it still gets: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

blurb
RaeLovesToRead
Breathtaking | Rachel Clarke
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This is a first hand account from a doctor about the early months of the pandemic. I'm expecting it to be a difficult and emotional read.

I was unable to work during this horrific time and I can only say how much I respect and am grateful for all the healthcare workers that were there on the front line... You're all incredible ❤

#nonfictionnovember

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blurb
JennyM
Breathtaking | Rachel Clarke
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Winter #Booked2021 ✔️ and submitted in the new 📋online: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScNM9zdameJwnkQesQ2xQfS32LEzNIXmUmsDTWO...

1. #SetInAustralia - The Good Sister 🇦🇺
2. #NonfictionScienceOrSFWrittenByAWoman - The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks 🔬🦠
3. #BakedGoodsOnCover - So Lucky 🍩
4. #COVIDHEROS - Breathtaking 💔
5. #MustacheOnCover - This is Dali 🧔 🎨
6. #AuthorsFirstNamesStartsWithABOrC - Real Life 🅱️

JennyM Faves were Breathtaking and Real Life ⭐️ 4y
Kalalalatja You go! 👏👏 Real Life was great! 4y
JennyM @Kalalalatja it was so good! Excited to read what he does next 4y
See All 13 Comments
TrishB Great stuff 👍🏻 4y
BarbaraTheBibliophage Great job! Thanks! 🥳🥳📚📚💕💕 4y
CarolynM Well done you! I've still got two books to read for this quarter😬 I'm doing #Summer 4y
Cinfhen Thanks for sharing the link 🎉💖Yay on completing first quarter #Booked21 4y
Cinfhen Tagged book sounds emotionally devastating/ did you feel it was too soon to read this?? 4y
JennyM @Cinfhen it was very difficult to read especially with all my family being in the UK and being so worried for them. So although it was a beautifully written and honest account, it was probably not the best time to read it. I had a few weird dreams as a result. 4y
Cinfhen I can imagine what this book would do to my emotional state 😭 4y
valeriegeary Excellent. Again...I am behind on this one. 🤦🏼‍♀️ I can read 2 books by the end of March I think. Plenty of time. 4y
valeriegeary Oh! Actually.... Now that I went and looked at the form and see you can check boxes through all seasons...I am not behind! Whoo hoo! 🙌🏻 4y
JennyM @valeriegeary huzzah 🥳 Hope you are keeping well x 4y
51 likes13 comments