This is a wonderful book that I flew through. Reading just what Michael Rosen went through while fighting for his life due to covid and the notes from staff who cared for him are a real eye opener to just how serious the coronavirus is and how much all the staff cared for their patients and how hard they have fought this awful disease. This book will leave it's mark on me for a very long time, I loved it.

This was an emotional, beautifully written book about Michael Rosen’s battle with Covid-19. The poems were beautiful and highlighted what he was going through. The letters and notes written by the NHS staff who cared for him, especially when he was placed on a ventilator, showed how the NHS often go above and beyond and that they care not just for the person’s health but also for them as a person. Thank you to Netgalley, publisher and the author for a chance to read and review this wonderful book.

An enlightening collection of nurses notes, tweets and poems describing Michael Rosens' stay in hospital and his road to recovery having contracted Covid 19.
It brought me to tears and gave me more information about the way patients are treated in hospital and the enormous efforts out in by the staff.

A beautiful book, a mixture of poems and the notes from his nurses, along with brilliant illustrations. Full of hope, the dark and the light of life, this is a poignant reminder of how fragile and precious life is.

Michael Rosen has produced an informative, entertaining and at times very upsetting autobiographical memoir of his experiences during the pandemic of the last year.

This is a short book, which provides an insight into what, for most of us, has been life on the 'inside': His experiences as an NHS Covid-19 patient are told through a mixture of diary entries by the plethora of medical professionals who treated him; alongside his own entertaining writing.

I can only imagine how terrible his experience has been, not only for him, but for his family. Who for so long were helpless onlookers kept on the 'outside'.

His tragi-comic and poetic writing has helped me, a mere victim of the fallout associated with successive lockdowns, to understand what life is like for a person who is severely ill with the virus.

I wish him well for the future and give my thanks to Netgalley and Random House (Ebury Press) for a copy in exchange for this review.

A whole new point of view on the pandemic that has changed our lives this last year. A collection of poems and writings from Michael and the notes in his diary from NHS staff when writing while he was in the icu with Coronavirus.
This is a real insight into how life was for him and many others- beautiful and scary and heartbreaking. This powerful collection is something I would love to look back on in years to come to remember how things were. Our wonderful NHS are the stars of this book alongside the author and it has been a privilege to read it

You may know this author because he wrote 'We're Going on a Bear Hunt'. When he became ill with covid he was taken to hospital and the staff left him notes, telling him what was happening during his time there. It was quite emotional reading the letters from the NHS staff who were looking after him and the letters from his wife. Some of the staff had transferred from other hospital departments. Some had done a shift of their regular job then had gone on nights to help out.

As he recovered he was able to put things in his own words, in the form of poems. Some sad, some funny. It's a very moving account of one man's struggle to fight covid and the struggles the NHS faced too.

I had just come home from the vaccination centre when I received this ARC. It put my sore arm and headache into perspective when I read this book that was written from the heart.

As soon as I was approved for this I had to stop everything else and just sit down and read the book.
It isn't an easy read but in every line, in every word love, resilience and strength shine through.

I have suffered a serious, unexpected & life changing illness in recent years and Rosen manages to say everything I've felt since then so eloquently that I was crying for him & for myself.
I have recovered well and I hope that Mr Rosen continues to improve and that at some point our government is held to account for the devastation it has allowed to happen.

It felt like a privilege to read this book, such is the raw honesty of Michael Rosen's poetic musings on being close to death and recovering.
We all have been touched in some way by the pandemic but to read of a person's experience with such eloquence is truly revelatory.
This book is full of concern, honesty, humour, sadness, personal fear, and so much more.
Alongside Rosen's poetical journey there are updates his wife wrote when he was hospitalised and daily diary entries ITU staff wrote to Michael as he was in a coma and slowly coming out of it. These notes from the staff gave me a lump in my throat. This is our NHS where the workers go the extra mile.
Rosen's illustrations are interspersed too. As always, they are creative and apt.
I wish Michael Rosen a continued good recovery and thank him for honouring us with this book. Thank you to every person in the NHS who helped him recover too.
I've reviewed an early copy and thank the publisher for it.

Michael has gone through so much in his battle with Covid-19 and has lost so many things but he hasn't lost his writing talent.
This is a heart breaking story, told through a mixture of nurse's diaries, poetry and letters.
It really brings home the commitment of the NHS and it's amazing team of staff and how they adapted so quickly at the start of the pandemic.

This is such a beautifully written book. I haven't cried so much over a book in years. It really brings home the realities of Covid-19 and the amazing job that the people working in the NHS do. The wonderful devotion of Michael Rosen's wife should be an inspiration to us all.
This book should be compulsory reading for anyone who underestimates the effect of corona virus and who fails to observe the Covid rules, acting recklessly without a thought for others. In fact. everyone should read it anyway, it is simply wonderful.

Michael Rosen may have gone through so much with his covid illness, but it hasn’t taken his talents. This book is so moving, I cried a tear at the lost months and the struggles he faced rebuilding himself. However, as always with Michael’s work I smiled and had a little giggle too- especially at his daily mail dig! The love he has for his family, wife and the NHS workers shines through. This book tells a story that needs to be heard- covid-19 is evil and the people in charge should have done more to protect us. Thank the Lord for the NHS, their kindness and skills and for their ability to save people like Michael.

As one of Michael Rosen’s twitter followers, I watched with dread the news of his hospitalisation and induced coma. Each update was read with hope, but the news wasn’t great for such a prolonged time that I doubted he could make it. I am so glad my pessimism was misplaced and that he has produced this beautiful chronicle of his deterioration, the blank time (where letters from the intensive care staff who watched over him take over the narrative) and his painfully slow recovery from Covid 19.

He applies his customary light touch and self deprecating humour to recall some of the horrible situations he has travelled through. His love and appreciation of his family and the NHS staff who both saved and helped him to rebuild his life are evident throughout. Understandably a hint of anger too- toward a government that seemed prepared to sacrifice lives...

‘If the government had done what the WHO
suggested, I wonder
perhaps these things wouldn’t have happened
to me
nor the thousands of others like me
nor to the thousands who’ve died’


An important and powerful book about a personal experience of the Covid 19 pandemic. This very much needed to be written as part of the social history of this time. The illustrations from Chris Riddell are also wonderful.

I am very grateful to the publisher and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for honest opinions. Despite having this on my kindle, I have ordered the hardback- a record of this period to carry into the future.