This book wasn’t for me. I have worked in a similar place during covid and I felt this book just wasn’t representative of what it was like

Powerful epistolary memoir based on the diaries of Anthea Allen, an intensive care nurse who was amongst those at the front line of the covid pandemic.

Anthea felt compelled to email her contacts in her local community to ask for donations of biscuits to boost staff morale during their relentless battle against the unknown, complicated and deadly virus, Covid-19.

Donations far exceeded her expectations, and people loved to read her email, so she continued to send regular updates. These form the basis of this memoir and provide fly-on-the-wall insights into the struggles these brave men and women continue to face.

Really interesting to see the covid pandemic told from the other side. Shocking the conditions the nurses had to work through.

This memoir is urgently needed. It shows the very best of public service and also shows why the NHS is needed as a service.

When Covid arrived no one knew what it was or what to expect. The nhs was already on its knees and this horrid virus pushed the nhs to breaking point. However the dedicated nurses, dr, and hospital staff went above and beyond to try and save as many people as they could from this virus.

This book is a very Rae, very real , very honest account of what it was life on the ‘factory floor’ so to speak at a hospital were our dedicated nurses where putting their own lives at risk for the sake of other.

I urge you to read this. It ain’t pretty , it real, it’s life during covid,

I am a community hospital matron and I think everyone should read this book as it truly reflects what it is to be a nurse,they are there no matter what. This book is sad, funny and inspirational., thank you for showing what all nurses have gone through during this pandemic regardless of where they work as I agree it has taken its toll especially on staffs mental health, but between the stress there has been laughter, friendship and the burning desire to help people.

A nurses way of making it through the pandemic, an honest raw account for someone who had to face more than others. Seems relevant at the moment with the possible NHS nurses strike about to happen. I work for the NHS through the pandemic but nothing opens your eyes more than reading the words this nurse wrote. Literally her heart on the pages.

Heartbreaking, fascinating, and important. The sacrifice and commitment shown by NHS nursing staff is always humbling and immense, but hearing about the pandemic from a frontline voice was on another level. Anthea Allen's memoir is shocking, touching, illuminating and raw.

I was touched by this intimate account of what it has been like working on Covid wards during the height of the pandemic. However, I found this too raw and emotional to finish. The book did highlight the critical role that nurses and even non-medical staff played during a time of heightened need for NHS services nationally. I genuinely believe more should be done for NHS staff, rather than just a 'clap for carers' initiative.

Really interesting insight into life on a Critical Care ward during the start of the Covid pandemic.

I found this book an incredibly powerful and insightful read in to what it was like to be on the front line during the pandemic. It is not easy reading but it is definitely a book that we should all read. I would absolutely recommend it.

The story of a front-line ICU nurse during the Covid pandemic should have been gripping. However, whilst the boots on ground stories were fascinating and the impact on staff was impactive, I found the book repetitive, especially in relation to the ‘email’ chapters. Whilst the emails that she composed during the pandemic to keep people updated were probably helpful and interesting at the time, when they are set out in a book, it just highlighted that the same areas were being covered again and again (probably didn’t matter when there were long periods of time between the emails).

I usually like a work based memoir, but this one just missed the mark for me.

I was really looking forward to reading Life, Death and Biscuits by Anthea Allen, a nurses perspective on working in covid. Being a nurse myself I thought it would be a great book however I did not enjoy it. I found it very repetitive, I wasn’t interested in how many biscuits she was eating. I gave up on it after a few chapters, sorry not for me.

Unfortunately this book was not for me, it was a bit slower than I would like and it just didn't hold my attention. I am sure other people will love it!

An excellent memoir of working on the frontline during the Covid 19 pandemic. This was an emotional read and at times very personal to me.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for the ARC in return for an honest and unbiased opinion.

Thank you NetGalley for letting me review this book, It was an interesting insight into the very hardworking staff of the NHS during the time when they were most under pressure - the COVID-19 lockdowns. I'm astounded that the government thought you could spend "claps" at the supermarket, to pay your bills etc. They certainly did not show their appreciation with a pay rise.

At the start of the pandemic, Anthea Allen an experienced critical care nurse wrote a 'round robin' email to her contacts to request biscuits for critical care staff as a morale boost.
This turned into a weekly email in response to the feedback she had.
This book is the content of those emails, which act as an accurate as it happens memoir with a brief discussion around each email.
As a fellow NHS worker, I found the book interesting and could relate to a lot of the fear and the feelings she describes as going into battle with an invisible enemy. The term redeployment was frequently banded about felt like a battle term.
The team were really in the thick of it and I can't deny how under appreciated they are for the many skills the possess. They also very let down by the 1% pay rise, a real kick in the teeth but one I fully expected as this pa rise was agreed before the pandemic started.
Anthea also describes how nervous they were about contracting covid. A fear that I can appreciates. The reality of wearing hot PPE, not recognising one another because they were working in an aerosol generated procedure area, actually gave them the protection they needed. A protection not afforded to other nurses and how working on an ordinary covid ward, many of whom contacted covid and some of which died because we were wearing non fitted masks and visors.
Anthea had every right to be proud of herself and her team for coping under such stressful circumstances and their altruistic approach but found her lack of modesty uncomfortable. I also found that she contradicts herself by describing altruism and how they are not heroes then going on to say how wonderful they al are (which of course they are.
The book is more of a collection of emails with the odd anecdote thrown in,
For readers of biographies and memoir non fiction adult books.

With thanks to #NetGalley, HarperCollins UK, Nonfiction, Harper Element for the preview read in return for an honest review. #LifeDeathandbiscuits.

Heart breaking and awe inspiring about the life of a critical care nurse during the Covid pandemic. And an emotionally charged one too - recalling the fear at the start of the pandemic and the ongoing slug by medical teams around the world. It's so easy to think it's over and to gloss over two incredibly painful years.

I can’t say I enjoyed this book but it was for all the wrong reasons.. I kept picking it up and had to put it down as it was to honest in it’s account about how people suffered and died alone from covid. The distress it caused nurses was hard to hear but all those nurses need to be commended for there tireless dedication to looking after those who were unfortunate to catch covid and being with the many at the end. A book that needs to be read dispute it’s truthfulness about a new and deadly virus the like of which has never been seen in our lifetime. I commend the author for giving us an insider’s view from start to, let’s hope the finish, of this unforgivable pandemic.

Life, Death and Biscuits is compassionate, real and well worth a read as it gives real unfiltered insight in to what it's like to work as a critical care worker on the frontline.