Really enjoyed this booked had never read this author before and will not be the last time. now looking for more by this author

Professor Stephen Westaby is a world-renowned heart surgeon who has pushed the boundaries and been a pioneer of life-saving technology during his career. This non-fiction book reflects on some of his most memorable cases, from children with congenital heart disease to the first man to live without a pulse.

Like everyone else, I absolutely loved This Is Going To Hurt and I was keen to read more medical non-fiction. This is a lot more serious and much less funny, but it’s still a brilliant, exhilarating and terrifying book. I was completely fascinated with the surgeries detailed in Fragile Lives, and I found this such an informative, entertaining read. But I will say that I’m now absolutely paranoid about my heart – especially after the first patient in the book (who’s name was also Beth). Read it and I’m sure you’ll see why!

As someone who has no medical background, I started reading this memoir mistakenly believing heart surgery was pretty much similar from one case to another. This book corrected my misunderstanding, and I was soon immersed in the intricacies of various heart problems and the medical interventions necessary to treat them.

Each chapters details a particular noteworthy challenge facing the author during his career. These accounts are offered with a brief background of the patient, and are sprinkled with explanations of exactly why they represented important step-changes and their wider implications on the international stage. This made for compulsive reading.

I'm sure Stephen Westaby wouldn't have been criticized for avoiding those cases which ultimately ended in failure, the patient dying, but the author hasn't sugarcoated his narrative. All the raw human emotions are given space, be they a consequence of success, of treading water, or of tragic loss.

The narrative is accessible, the medical nomenclature being illustrated by medical diagrams where necessary, and a comprehensive glossary is provided.

Even if you only possess a cursory interest in things medical, I'm sure you'll find this book fascinating. It well deserves a 5 stars out of 5 rating.

I love watching Holby City and Casualty and recently have found myself watching real life programmes where cameras are invited into the operating theatre and watch the surgeons. I have never wanted to work in a hospital and most definitely not in an operating theatre but I have found these programmes fascinating and Fragile Lives is a book that I was engaged with from the start and have really enjoyed reading about the fantastic surgeon, Stephen Westaby, a real life heart surgeon (think Jac Naylor, Connie Beauchamp and Anton Meyer).

Fragile Lives is a book that the reader really needs to be concentrating on, lots of medical terms and procedures, however, once I settled down with peace and quiet I really enjoyed reading it. As a surgeon he literally worked on the patients heart as their blood flowed through, knowing one slip or misplaced cut could be disastorous. Through his writing, the reader can feel the empathy and emotion that Westaby had with every patient that passed through his clinics and operating theatre.

I really enjoyed this book and it has intensified my awe for heart surgeons and the work they are able to do.

Fascinating insight into the life and career of a pioneering heart surgeon. Written in a way that non-medics can understand. Highly recommended.

A fantastic read. Thoroughly enjoyed this and it is not something I would usually pick up. Will look for more from this author in future.

I absolutely loved reading this book; it documents the author's journey from the beginning of his career. I found it fascinating and was completely absorbed by his case studies and procedures - couldn't put it down. I would definitely recommend this, it's a brilliant read.

Fragile Lives is a collection of anecdotes about patients that Stephen Westaby operated on.

Reading this book, you will learn a lot about the heart, it's structure and how it works. It's a really interesting novel which also highlights the state of the NHS today and how bureaucracy and the shame culture of today is scaring people away from being surgeons.

A wonderful read - it completely hooked me in from the first page, the writing was accessible and yet thought-provoking. The kind of book that makes you realise the preciousness of life. Would recommend.

Very detailed and really interesting to read from his perspective! Definitely one to read for those interested in medicine!

Such an interesting memoir. What can be more important that mending hearts? The surprise is how humble Mr Westaby is when he is actually holding someone's life in his hands. A great insight into surgery and pressure and situations that us ordinary mortals would not otherwise know about.

I had such a strange experience reading this book as I get quite queasy when reading about blood and organs! When I was younger I was diagnosed with a heart murmur so the heart has always felt like a bit of an enemy, but one that I never really understood. I had heard a lot of hype about this book so was really grateful to get a chance to read it.

When I started to read it I immediately felt anxious about learning so much about the heart and how it works. It feels like such a fragile organ and one with which so many things can go wrong. And obviously when things do go wrong it can have dire consequences.

Each chapter of this book is about a different key moment or patient in Stephen Westerby's amazing career as a surgeon. He was a pioneer in many ways and wasn't afraid to take calculated risks when it was needed. He always put the patients' needs first and I so glad people like him exist in the world.

Aside from the tough subject, it is a surprisingly easy book to read and I devoured it in two sittings.

Not my usual kind of book however I loved this. Easy to read, gripping and interesting. Would highly recommend.

I was lucky enough to hear Stephen Westaby speak at a literary festival last year. Here is a man who has been at the forefront of so many advances in heart surgery. He writes with passion, both about his patients and his procedures. I read very few non-fiction books, but this is one I would whole-heartedly recommend (do you see what I did there? ;-)

This is the story of a cardiac surgeon and the decisions he makes, the outcomes of those decisions and most importantly (for me) the impact of those outcomes. Dr Westaby (Mr Westaby? I'm not sure of the convention) is a real human being who is emotionally committed to his job and his patients. He isn't the aloof, stand offish surgeon refusing to acknowledge the conscious lives of the bodies on his table and the book is very rich because of that. You feel his pain - and his joy - and you learn why decisions are made and how people are effected.

Starting from the beginning of his career, we follow how a person develops into a top cardiac surgeon operating on vulnerable people and inventing new procedures. We understand the frustrations and triumphs and his difficulties of working in the NHS. The book is moving and funny and human and I recommend it. This is a useful addition to the canon of work explaining complex professions and is one of the best I've read.

I was given a copy of the book by Netgalley in return for an honest review.

I have no in depth medical knowledge but found this book fascinating. Plenty of graphic descriptions of sawing chests open and pools of blood, but get past that and it really is a very interesting and emotional book. Thank God for people like the author and his passionate and dedicated colleagues.

A powerful biographical story depicting the rise and fall of the NHS through the career of a heart surgeon. Well explained and interesting

I don’t know what I was expecting when I requested the book, as I don’t usually read memoirs, but the fact that was a surgeon’s memoir was what called my attention. And I have thoroughly enjoyed it. I do have to say I do know a bit regarding anatomy and physiology, but I did not expect the author to dive in so deep on it. I mean, there are even diagrams and drawings explaining bits and bobs about how the heart and circulatory system works from a Doctors point of view. This has been very enjoyable, I loved how detailed some explanations were, mostly regarding surgeries and procedures. Those were my favorite bits. It was interesting but not in a patronizing way of “I know more than you look how cool am I and all the cool things I can do”. On the other side, I know it might put off some people, for the attention to detail, but to me it was mesmerizing.

We will follow the author from the moment he became interested in cardiac surgery, till quite recent in time throughout a series of different procedures. He will walk us through a series of cases and patients, and we will follow his career and development as a surgeon from the early ones to the really challenging ones that will leave you biting your nails hoping for the best.

It is raw medicine, meaning sometimes it goes really well and everything is amazing, but sometimes it does not. And I think it was really important to deliver that message as well. Because being the story of a human being, only success would have made it boring, dull, and not realistic at all. And well, if it was only failure, he would not have become the eminence he is at the moment in his field.

Really enjoyable, I loved it and read it in about a couple of days. The chapters are not very long and quite conclusive by themselves, so you don’t have to follow a storyline per se so you can read a few chapters every now and then and still really enjoy the book. If you’re interested or even curious about the topic, it’s a wonderful read.

I received this book from Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review. My opinion is my own and has not been influenced by this fact at all.

In this collection of true stories, selected from a lifelong career in heart surgery, Stephen Westaby gives the layman reader a much clearer understanding of how traumatic operations can be. Not only to the relatives but to the surgeon and his team. His need to maintain detachment wherever possible is certainly justifiable as 40 years after watching [ in secret] an operation that went wrong he tells us that it is the only one that haunts him in his dreams - he just let himself get too close. If you want to come to grips with the harsh reality of heart surgery this is the book for you. You'll learn what heart surgeons do and just be left grateful that they go into work each day. Somehow they are strong enough mentally to live with failure yet rejoice with every success.
Westaby was a pioneer in many respects and carried out a number of "firsts" - which thanks to him and his fellow pioneers - are now routine methodologies that prolong life for thousands every year.

Wow what an absolutely fascinating book that was to read - although perhaps not when I was eating!!! I'd never heard of half of these operations, and devices, so it made for a very enjoyable read. Stephen Westaby more than deserves a medal for what he's done for medicine!