Life, Death and Biscuits: The inspiring diaries of a Critical Care nurse on the Covid front line

by Anthea Allen

THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER ‘A heart-breaking story of courage and compassion from the front line of the toughest battle our nurses have had to fight. Anthea Allen’s writing is raw, honest and full of love for those she cares for.’ Susanna Reid 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. Anthea Allen's book 'Life, Death and Biscuits' was a Sunday Times bestseller w/c 21-02-2022.

Genres: Nonfiction, Audiobook, Ebooks, Memoir, Medical, Medicine

320 pages, Paperback

Published June 20, 2023

Reviews

[Kate Southey · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have mixed feelings about this book. It is a fascinating look at the life of a critical care nurse and a peek into the horror that was pandemic nursing but it was in my opinion far too long and far too repetitious. Originally written as regular emails it makes sense that the same things are oft repeated ‘nurses are a family’ ‘I love being Mama Anthea to these young nurses’ if you are hearing them at monthly or even weekly intervals. Once put together in one volume it becomes so obvious how often Anthea muses on the camaraderie of her team. I think the book could have been far better if edited to remove the bulk of these musings and was a shorter book.
I really struggled to finish it.

[Laura Doe · Rating 3 out of 5]

I would give this book 2.5 stars, rounded up to 3.
This book was an interesting look at the life of a critical care nurse during the Covid-19 pandemic. It was both heartbreaking and heartwarming in places and it was interesting to learn what exactly a critical care nurse is tasked with daily.
However, this has not been my favourite medical memoir, having read Adam Kay’s This Is Going To Hurt just before starting this book. While I liked that the emails that Anthea originally sent out were included, they became very repetitive and I started to become a little bit bored of reading about the same things. I understood that when they were sent out, they were a week or so apart from each other so it may have been necessary for the repetition, but I just don’t think that it worked well within a book.
I also started to get annoyed at the way that Anthea referred to young doctors and belittled them (they were so young they still had acne or a doctor fainted within 2 hours of starting work on the Covid ICU) and how she repeatedly told the reader that the nurses that were sent to help weren’t trained enough and weren’t giving the best care to their patients. It was like she forgot that these nurses had been pulled out of their specialties and thrown into a place where they had to learn new skills, I would bet that Anthea couldn’t work in the areas that these nurses came from to the same standard as them either.
I also got frustrated and felt that she was trying to make us feel sorry for the nurses who were fed three times a day during the start of the pandemic and were forever being gifted snacks, gift bags and hampers and how later on during the second wave she said that they did their job without the discounts, without the free coffee and without a pay rise. While these nurses really did go through hell and I wouldn’t wish it on anybody, the hospital nurses received a lot more than other nurses (especially community nurses), support workers and care home staff who worked tirelessly through the pandemic caring for those who weren’t in the hospitals. The only difference being that they didn’t have the luxury that Anthea and her team had of the food and endless “PPE hugs” whilst still working in the strangest times. Another sentence that stuck out to me was “only nurses talk of food while the aroma of faeces fills the air”, which is not true at all. Anyone who works within the health and social care sector and deals with the personal care of people have the same sense of humour and the same outlooks as many nurses but often get forgotten about.
While this book was interesting to begin, I found from about 40% through I was starting to get very annoyed by the repetition and the self-congratulatory writing that I wasn’t sure if I could finish the book. I think the book could have been much shorter than it was, but I also think that anyone who worked from home or was furloughed during the pandemic should read this to understand how hard it was to work on the front lines while most were enjoying the glorious weather and all of the lockdown activities that went on.

[Stephen · Rating 3 out of 5]

thanks to the publishers and netgalley for a free copy in return for an open and honest review

Enjoyed this book about a critical care nurse during the Covid19 Pandemic working at St Georges hospital I can relate to some of this working within the NHS myself especially during the pandemic and how life changed for everyone and how the NHS was swamped under with the pressures and how dedicated staff went beyond whats expected to keep patients alive under extreme pressures.

[Karen Pratt · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is a difficult review being a nurse myself and working on paediatric intensive care in the past.

Book - incredibly repetitive and took me far too long to read and glad when came to the end to be honest.
Would of been better hearing patients and families stories as well as impact on nhs staff. However it was all about how brilliant Anthea is and how brilliant critical care nurses are.

Staff - Anthea all nurses are bloody brilliant!!! Throughout covid we all had different roles but in our own unique way we kept the nhs going. It wasn’t solely down to critical care nurses!!! What about the poor nurses in the care homes dealing with deaths every day but on top of that knowing those individuals very personally.
What about health care assistants, porters, lab technicians, medics, cleaners and everyone else who works in the nhs - WE ALL DID IT TOGETHER. And yes we are exhausted as well.
Being critical about staff who had to leave their specialism to come and help you out was very disappointing as most of those people would of been colleagues from paediatrics. Everyone pulled together and tried their best and did a really good job.

I could go on as I was so looking forward to reading this book but so disappointed. Sorry for the rant but just grated a nerve.

[Gemma · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an incredible book that left me an emotional wrecked.

How easily and quickly we forget the terrible and tragic start to covid.
I recall the fear, watching the news , ringing loved ones . Now covid is a household word , with so many around us having had it or currently have it. Its easy to forget how all the doctors and nurses fought for us in those unknown times, and continue to do so today.
While I understood how dedicated and hard it was for the medical professions then, I can honestly say after this book I really had no idea . This book really highlights what the nurses went through . This is an incredibly important book for generations to come to be able to look back to those times . This is such a valuable resource that I feel everyone should read .

I laughed, cringed and more that anything else cried while listening to this.
I loved that it was read by the author too.


I voluntarily read and reviewed this book, all thoughts and opinions are my own.

[Claire Broadhurst · Rating 3 out of 5]

A compilation of diary entries from a critical care nurse during the Covid pandemic. Her experiences are shocking, inspiring and a valuable record and insight into a world of such amazing professionalism. The book would have benefited from some strong editing, as the excessive repetition of certain themes detracted greatly from an heroic story that needs to be shared.

[Julie Haigh · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good read about a critical care nurse's experiences during the Coronavirus Pandemic.

After more than 20 years working as a critical care nurse, Anthea Allen thought she'd seen it all.
Then Coronavirus happened. This book documents her thoughts and experiences. Full on. She tells exactly what it was like through a series of emails which recount her experiences.

She had been a nurse for 25 years, 23 of them a critical care nurse. This is a sort of diary-like account, made up of dated emails that were originally to friends and family etc. It's a fast and informative, and eye-opening read-just a few repetitive statements spoiled it a bit for me. Mentioning certain things repeatedly is OK in a regular email update/blog-but when this is all stitched together in a book, it doesn't work as well. It's fine except for that; the repetition.

It's not all COVID-there's still the other kinds of emergencies that they have to deal with alongside.
Medical memoirs are amongst my favourite genres, and this is a good read.

[Franzi · Rating 4 out of 5]

A bit repetitive at times but such a tender and real insight into a nurse's life during Covid. I especially appreciated how many different parts of live Allen touched upon, like how old people or young teenagers were struggling in their own ways during Covid. As someone who spends way too much time in hospitals or doctor's offices, she also made me feel much more comfortable with the moments there, that are embarrassing for me but just normal for the nurses. They really hold the whole medical world together. I feel like this is a book that I could show to my kids in the future to make them understand the weird world we lived in during the height of the pandemic.

[Nicole · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was definitely an inspiring and interesting read but unfortunately it wasn't my favourite medical memoir I have ever read.

I had a real issue with the structure of this book. It's broken down in to months between March 2020 and July 2021.

However, using this structure meant that the book was quite repetitive. Lots of same issues such as mental health were discussed multiple times.

Personally, I would have preferred it to be broken down into themes. This wouldn't have made it so repetitive to read.

Other than that it was a very enjoyable read. You definitely learn a lot from learning this book. It's easy to forget what nhs staff went through during the pandemic.

This book does end on a note about vaccination. Although, she never mentions all the NHS staff and nurses who are not vaccinated, which I thought was a shame as they also put the patients life's at risk and they don't get a say in who cares for them.

This book was definitely interesting but it wasn't my favourite medical memoir I've ever read due to the structure issues, but I do recommend if you want to learn more about how the NHS dealt with the pandemic.

[Madeleine Black · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thought this was a great insight in to the incredible work and dedication that the critical care nurses do. It highlighted the incredibly challenging times during Covid and the impact it had on all staff, both physically and mentally.

If it were up to me I would give them all 100% pay rise, they do a phenomenal job. They literally our earth angels

"Doctors diagnose and cure. Nurses treat and care. Together we unite, doing our absolute best"

[Laaauraaa Normz · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is so good. It really gives you such an in depth understanding and insight to what health care professionals had to go through during the peak on the pandemic. It also hits home that these health care professionals are also humans with home lives but despite this they still want to be in the thick of it during the time that the entire country went into a panic.

My profession enabled me to have some insight to what challenges the pandemic played on the emergency services but to see from other emergency services how they coped was truly outstanding.

I had no idea that nurses and midwives have to pay £120 a year to register with the NMC just to be able to care and do their profession! I question as to whether that £120 should be paid to each of those health care professionals and not to the NMC.

I would recommend this book, it was interesting to step into someone else’s shoes as they gave a run through on the challenges they faced/face on a daily basis.

Thank you to all our healthcare professionals and NHS.. you do an incredible job on a daily basis and the UK didn’t clap because we was told to, we clapped because it was the very least we could do when we couldn’t help those who was helping us.

[Lyn Johnson · Rating 5 out of 5]

A heart rending insight on the covid 19 battle through the eyes of an ICU nurse.
A truthful account of what goes on behind closed doors in the NHS. Literally closed doors, no visitors allowed, all staff in high volumes of PPE.
I could imagine myself in the shoes of this nurse, but could I?
Nobody who wasn't there will ever truly know the sacrifices made by these selfless human beings who give their all day in day out without complaint.

[Lucy Matthews · Rating 2 out of 5]

Rambling, highly repetitive and - as others haved noted - far too self-congratulatory. It would have been enough to simply describe what she as a nurse did during the pandemic - readers would have quickly joined the dots to appreciate her contribution... We didn't need the constant analogies to war heroes and strings of four adjectives, usually including the word 'brilliant'.

[Eightlegs · Rating 5 out of 5]

An account of working as a critical care nurse in London during Covid. An emotional read at times but glad I read it.

[Joy Lenton · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is more than a medical memoir. Anthea Allen, an experienced Critical Care Sister, narrates a harrowing personal history of the extreme challenges she and her team face when working during the fatal fallout of the global Covid pandemic which upturns lives and livelihoods.

Working and surviving in a Critical Care unit appears to be a matter of determined teamwork, excellence under great duress, life, death, compassion, love, and needful sustenance: such as chocolates, cakes and biscuits from grateful former patients and their relatives.

Imagine how important the usual supportive measures are when clinical staff are pressured beyond belief and can barely squeeze in a rest break, drink or meal. The traumatic working day is like being stuck in a recurring nightmare where you can’t wake up or forget what’s happening.

A heart-breaking, insightful, riveting read, it depicts Covid-19 beginning to have a huge impact on the already badly managed, depleted and poorly equipped NHS, existing as it does on the critical knife edge between providing adequate health provision and chaos.

It covers from March 2020 to the summer of 2021, with all the PPE shortages, rush, hurry, panic, pause, recalibrate, then reboard the “Covid Express” to do it all over again, often with changed locations, equipment and staff members as wards are utilised into emergency care bays.

Yet the brilliant and amazing critical care nurses in particular do their utmost to provide the best, kindest and safest care possible, crisis or no crisis. They are deeply committed to their patients, trying to help people survive in life threatening circumstances.

As an ex-nurse I loved revisiting the hospital environment, ached with sympathy for their plight and felt upset at the way they are treated sometimes. It’s an enlightening read that will make you laugh and cry and applaud them all for their ability to keep going and extreme courage under fire. Grateful thanks to NetGalley and HarperElement for the eRAC.

[Sophie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I listened to this on audiobook. I did find it really interesting and also really sad, often crying at times. I found the author a little bit “oh woe is me, look how heroic I am” which was a bit annoying, but I find this quite common in these non-fiction type books about heroic roles, usually told by someone who feels superior in their profession as was the case here! At times I found her a little bit heartless to people (I mean, could she have been more excited by getting the organ from a dead patient?!). However, despite all this, I did get an insight into the life of a critical care nurse, and of course, they are all amazing, just a shame the author was not very likeable.

[Erin Devitt · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 - think I’m just so used to novels with plots so this felt a little slow but other than that really interesting hearing a critical care nurses story during Covid.

[Lara Green · Rating 4 out of 5]

A powerful book from showing ICU nursing during tghe pandemic. I see this book being usedto show the confusion, bravery and commitment of our front line workers

[Lesley · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book provides a great insight into the role of the Critical Care Nursing, Medical and ancillary staff during the Covid crisis.
As a retired nurse and midwife, I was excited to read this first hand account of this unique time in history.
Some of it is heart wrenching, distressing and to read and truly tugs on one’s heart strings.
However……….a lot of it is repetitive, and (dare I say it) very self-congratulatory. Anthea Allen doesn’t hold back on her huge pride in what she has done and paints herself as the backbone of her unit, which I have no doubt she is, but for me I would have preferred to hear it from someone else how great she was and how good she was to her nurses and how she was a surrogate mother to them.
Yes, they were all undoubtedly overworked, under resourced and under an unbelievable amount of stress and yes they all deserved a pay rise but it’s a fact that Covid has destroyed the economy of the country and increased the National debt to a level that it will take years to recover from and I feel sure that no-one would disagree that the medical and nursing staff deserve a bigger increase in salary than they have received but realistically there is no money tree and it’s not a government not recognising their worth, just a government doing exactly what the medics were doing…….battling their way through un chartered waters as best the could with the resources they had.
I have to admit that after reading about 40% of the book, it got too repetitive and too self congratulatory for me and I skipped through most of the rest of the book.
Doctors and nurses in the Ukraine are now going through a much worse crisis even than Covid, doctors and nurses in countries in Africa having been battling death and disease for years with less resources than our nurses and doctors had here in Covid.
Yes they were brilliant but doctors and nurses and all the supporting staff have always been brilliant in times of war, crisis, famine, poverty and will always step up to the plate and give of their best and beyond. I would have enjoyed this book more if it had been half the length it is and edited better.
My thanks go to the author, the publishers and NetGalley for an advanced e-reader copy of this book. My review, however, is entirely my honest opinion.

[Ines · Rating 1 out of 5]

Some stories in this book were heartwarming, or moving and there's even a couple of them that made me not want to put the book down until I got to the end of them.
I think it's important to understand how hard nursing can be (particularly in the uk, with the way the NHS works and how seriously underpaid nurses are).
However true it was, this book was incredibly repetitive from the beginning to the end. I understand the difficulty of being on the covid front line - and ICU nurses definitely deserve the praise - but after a while the praise just felt dismissive of anyone else's experience of lockdowns and life during covid, even other nurses or medical staff. It's a shame as I don't think that was intended, but definitely what came through to me.

[Danielle Jow · Rating 1 out of 5]

I am not even half way through and finding it very repetitive. I understand critical care nurses had it tough but so did many other health and social care staff. I found it off-putting that she is critical of nurses coming from other wards and specialities to help in terms of them not having critical care skills!! It's not their usual role but they wanted to help!! I also find it's as if she was begging for biscuits and treats for the staff. It's annoying. I'm finding it difficult to want to pick it up and continue reading. I really don't mean to sound awful because I appreciate nhs staff and other health and social care workers etc but it's very 'me, me, me' from Anthea.

[Jayne Hood · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing book such a insight . Makes you feel so very grateful for all nursing staff who worked so incredibly hard during a heartbreaking time and always do. A emotional read but such a comfort to know there is love , care and even humour at the darkest of times . So very well written and engaging read

[Voirrey · Rating 4 out of 5]

A book that began as a single e-mail, then a series of e-mails, from one of the Covid front-lines - in this case critical care. A place where, normally, there are more highly qualified nurses than there are patients and, despite the constant sense of being the fine line between survival or death for the patients, everyone knew what to do whatever arose.

Here there is suddenly a flood of patients with this new, highlt infectious, disease which is killing them - and there are no existing guidelines for how to deal with this, for what wil work and what won't. There are more and more patients, wards are being converted into ad hoc ITUs - and the number of critical care nurses is a finite resource.

As the writer points out, these are the real specialists - brining in extra medical staff who are not ITU trained, or hundreds of extra ventilators, will not help - you need the nurses who know what they are doing. They now find themselves supported by willing, but non-specialist nurses and nursing assistants who are desperately trying to learn on the hoof - whilst the specialist nurses are now trying to care for multiple patients each and are having to also teach these other staff.

All this whilst learning to work in full PPE, and deal with the death of patients whose families are not allowed in the hospital. The learning curve is steep and the toll on the physical and mental well-being of all the staff in the units is great.

I see other readers complain about the repetition of what this pressure is like, how difficult it is to try to teach staff whilst dealing with the level of care required, the sense of family within the staff, the gratitude for the food and gifts sent in to them. I don't mind the repetition - the whole thing, for the nurses, became a repetitive ground-hog day.

I feel, personally, very sympathetic to all these non-critical-care-trained nurses. As a retired nurse from a very different, community based, speciality I would have felt like a very frightened fish out of water and I did feel, sometimes, as if Anthea Allen barely acknowledged their feelings, but I can understand that her first thoughts would be for her own nurses, and I am sure she didn't really make these others feel unwanted, even though they must have felt inadequate to the task, especially at the beginning.

And I know there were other 'front lines' too; my community colleagues, the ambulance staff, those working in Nursing and Residential homes - but this book gives a very clear sense of what it was like to be part of this, particular, front-line team. None of them received the recognition they deserved - the realisation, after the first few months, that the government didn't see any need to reward them by even a small pay-rise must have been gutting. I hope politicians are being made to read this - but I am sure none of them will...

[Lainy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Time taken to read - 4 days

Pages - 320

Publisher - Harper Eliment

Source - Review copy

Blurb from Goodreads


‘A heart-breaking story of courage and compassion from the front line of the toughest battle our nurses have had to fight. Anthea Allen’s writing is raw, honest and full of love for those she cares for.’ Susanna Reid



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.


With over 30 years of experience as a nurse, 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.


My review

Theses stories aren't for everyone, some people feel it is too close or too soon. I think it is perfect timing because everyone has opinions on everything but not everyone is dealing with the reality of working in healthcare in these uncertain times.

I have read a fair few of these books and whilst it was interesting it wasn't my favourite. The author/nurse started off writing her accounts/experiences as a diary/emailing out to people and keeping them updated on what was going on and also requesting support, kind word, some eateries (cakes/biscuits) and just moral support for what her team where enduring.

I always think it is so interesting to hear from different areas both in hospital departments and actual locations. I was surprised to hear ICU in England cleared and had lulls inbetween the mania. When it hit bad there was help and runners in ICU in the form of a beauty therapist (I think specially a hairdresser, they ran and got all the drugs but advised the author they couldn't administer because they were not a nurse) that was mind blowing. We did see some of the horrific measures healthcare staff faced down in England but it still catches you how dire some of the situations are.

This nurse put a lot of positivity in this and to her team which I think probably kept so many of them going. Unless you are in it you just can't imagine, even reading books like this.

There are some scenes that are graphic and detail what these poor patients endured, high deaths rates and turnovers so just a heads up when going into any of these kind of reads.

A few times I felt it was quite repetitive but then it did start out as a communication and thing for her so understandable. Interesting read none the less and I will continue to read peoples experiences of care giving during the pandemic and just true stories in general of what it is like in different areas, 3/5 for me.

[Misfits farm · Rating 5 out of 5]

Oh wow! ( I write this and am not sure that should have the exclamation mark- it should and it shouldn't-reading on may explain this). This is a book about the very front line during the pandemic in a small corner of London, England. Many know about people requiring ventilators during this period- what many don’t know is that it takes the experience of a critical care nurse to operate them- few nurses were trained in this and even less doctors. Anthea is a one of these highly skilled nurses and tells of her days through emails to friends which by putting words on paper kept her sane. She asked for some biscuits as many of the staff being kitted up in PPE couldn't leave the ward (if they did it was a full clothes and ppe change for which they didn't have time or energy) and the hospital shops refused to serve them, knowing they were dealing with such critically ill covid patients. The response she got was overwhelming.
Thank you doesn't seem enough to these dedicated, caring staff. To the nurses and doctors through to those many don't even know about- the lab technicians who do all the tests on which medicine depends, the pharmaceutical staff working day and night to find vaccines and test medicines on which many lives depend. The porters, the cleaners, the administration staff the list goes on. Everyone of them made and every day makes the NHS (and private care) what it is in this country- a truly brilliant organisation. For anyone who complains- try being ill abroad or even in Ireland where I understand that a GP trip may cost you 50E or more each and every time.
This is brilliantly written. The clarity of what was happening through to the smiles when a doughnut appeared makes this a very real read. A truly inspiring memorable read and several messages for us all to look after ourselves- stay fit and healthy and don’t take unnecessary risks. As I understand Steve Jobs once said “ let food be your medicine otherwise medicine will be your food”. We can all help the NHS by doing this. One life- live it well.

[Beachcomber · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book came about as the result of an initial email to friends and neighbours, asking for biscuits for the Critical Care nurses. Over time, it became a weekly email to an increasingly wider group, detailing what it was like in the hospital during the pandemic. As somewhat of an outsider (I worked as admin in the NHS pre-pandemic, and spent time visiting family in hospital during the pandemic), I had a basic idea of what it must be like. And this confirmed that, as well as showing the incredible team work and effort that nurses go to to care for their patients. Don’t get me wrong, I do think they are remarkably caring and hard working.

But.

At times, this felt like it was saying nurses were the only thing - it sometimes glossed over the knowledge and expertise that doctors and consultants have. Is it different knowledge to that of nurses? I’m sure it is. But it’s no less valuable for that. This felt at times like it was doing a disservice to doctors and consultants. Especially when there were these two quotes that really struck me as disrespectful:

“It feels to us old ones that they are still children, and the odd one comes with attitude and immaturity. One doctor - young and pretty - seems to have just tumbled out of boarding school and med school, and has much to learn about life, people and medicine. She fainted after two hours in the Covid area. Nurses raised their eyebrows. We are tough and strong and made of a different fabric.”
—Judging much? What if she was unwell?

Or how about “the best moment this week was when I asked a consultant to help clean a patient who had profuse diarrhoea in the extreme. [...] The consultant was gagging despite the FFP3 mask and visor, Burt we jokingly said we assessed her as competent to clean up poo and laughed at her poor constitution.”
—Well I bet that made her feel SO much better...

I received a free ARC copy of this via NetGalley and the publishers in return for an unbiased review. Like another reviewer, I have mixed feelings about this book, which is why it’s got 3 stars rather than 4.

[Jamie-Lee Russell · Rating 5 out of 5]

'My heart has been full of love and pain. I have laughed until I ach d and cried for hours. Being a nurse devours but enriches me. I have seen life, death, tragedy, love, horror, kindness, compassion, and bravery. However, in this world of unpredictability, we are privileged, as we have seen incredible, phenomenal and beautiful - unseen by anyone else.'

I have just finished 3 years of studying to become an adult nurse, on the back of losing my mum to lung cancer which was followed up with COVID-19 and the pandemic. This extract (above) from Anthea's account resonates with me and all I have experienced over the past 3 and a bit years.

I started working bank as a healthcare assistant once I'd been accepted to study nursing. During this time I worked many shifts on the COVID wards, supporting patients and staff. When I commenced my training, I was lucky enough to experience a placement in the ICU, long after the pandemic, but still caring for patients who were COVID positive.

All of this really helped me to resonate, feel, empathise, cry, laugh, smile, and anger through the story of Anthea and her colleagues in St. George's ICU. I could picture it all first hand, and my heart wrenched, warmed, and beamed. I cannot even begin to imagine or pretend to know what this team went through and experienced during the waves of COVID, but what I do know is reading about Anthea and her team makes me proud to now be a nurse, because nurses are truly incredible 💙.

A true, emotionally charged account written from the POV and heart of an exceptional nurse and her team. Whether you have worked in healthcare or not, everyone will resonate with something reflected on in this book. A truly beautiful recount of a time when the world felt broken, and how one by one the nurses on the front line patched it back up. Incredible.

[Emma Johns · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thank you to NetGalley and Harper Collins for an ARC copy in exchange for my review.

This is a memoir based on the diaries of intensive care nurse Anthea Allen, who worked on the front line of St. George’s hospital in South London during the peak of the Covid crisis.

I struggled with this book a little bit. It is definitely an interesting read and it gave us an in depth look into the life of a critical care nurse on the frontline of the Coronavirus pandemic and the first few chapters had me intrigued. Some of the recounted events were heartbreaking, she spoke of the patients they lost and those they managed to save, as well as how cutbacks and budgets meant they didn’t have the resources, beds or staff needed. I like how she spoke of the camaraderie of the staff and how the pandemic brought them all together, almost like one big family. As this book was wrote from Anthea’s emails which she used to document this period, i understand that a lot of things will be repeated such as how the nurses are incredible and heroes etc. However about half way through the book I found it to became too repetitive, it was far too long and I quickly lost all interest in reading it and it became almost a chore just to finish it.

I think this would definitely be a good book for years to come to show future generations the extent and impact of the coronavirus and despite my opinion of this book, I have huge respect and admiration for Anthea and all of the NHS staff that played their part in the fight against the coronavirus. These are the people that went above and beyond to ensure people had the best care possible and they should be recognised for their efforts during such a difficult time.

[Kate]

dnf at 70%

Nobody was more ready to give this a 5⭐ than me but it was just....

In Life, Death and Biscuits, we follow Anthea Allen who, having spent 20+years as a Critical Nurse, takes us on a journey of her experience working during the pandemic. Having started off as weekly emails, she details month-by-month the progress of the virus from March 2020-July 2021 and the effects it has on her hospital, St George's in London. I really enjoyed the first few chapters as the pandemic began, that was very interesting and eye-opening. You can tell that the nurses were thrown in at the deep-end. There was an expectation for the nurses to save all of these people and yet they didn't know how to, at the beginning, because it was too early for anyone to know anything. I appreciate the way she spoke about how her and her team will forever be traumatised by what they've witnessed. I like how she spoke about the camaraderie the pandemic built within her team as they all tried to process all the difficult emotions/trauma, often being each others shoulder to cry on during extremely difficult moments.

However,  following Anthea in her journey for roughly a year and 4 months, a lot of the details and stories became very repetitive which just made my interest in the book dwindle.  

If this was edited down and split into themes/life lessons than a monthly overview, I think this would've combatted the repetition issue and been more informative/reflective. About 65% the way through the book, Anthea discusses different life lessons/themes which I think would've worked better as chapters instead of the monthly chapters. (Life, Death, Grief, Covid, Love, Horror, Kindness, Compassion, Hope and Bravery).

[Jen James · Rating 4 out of 5]

Life, Death and Biscuits by Anthea Allen is very different from my usual reading genre. I wanted to give a quick trigger warning, for anyone who has been deeply affected by Covid, and I do know that there are so many. Not just bereaved families, but also those who may have been nursed on ICU, and also those who are currently suffering from Long Covid. There are many details of Covid's affects, and some people may be upset by this, reminded of very bad times.

The book, quite literally, tells of the week by week experience of Anthea Allen, who is a Senior Critical Care Nurse at St George’s. At the start of the pandemic, nearly two years ago, she started writing a weekly e-mail, to her friends. Initially for people to be aware of the current situation, and not to underestimate the danger of Covid, but I think it quickly turned into therapy for Anthea as well.
The backbone of the book, are the e-mails themselves. This gives us a very honest view of how it felt at that time, not looking back with hindsight.
I think this is an important book, that really should be read by anyone responsible for funding the NHS. Those who look after the pennies, but don’t understand the reality of how that money works or doesn’t work, when dealing with real life situations. For me, as a reader, I did find it a little repetitive. Which in a way makes sense, as the feeling on a daily basis must have been a “Groundhog Day” existence. A never ending stream of patients, presently similarly, seemingly without end. The letter at the very end, which had been sent from an ex-patient called Ray, to Anthea, was incredibly moving and poignant. 4⭐️ from me.