Dear NHS: 100 stories to say thank you edited by Adam Kay #review

Title: Dear NHS: 100 stories to say thank you
Author: edited by Adam Kay
Publisher: Trapeze

Synopsis

Created and edited by Adam Kay (author of multi-million best seller ‘This is Going to Hurt’), ‘DEAR NHS’ features household names telling their personal stories of the health service. Contributors include Joanna Lumley, Naomie Harris, Kate Tempest, Lee Child, Tanni Grey Thomson, Bill Bryson, Trevor McDonald, Jack Whitehall, Michael Palin, Stanley Tucci and many, many more.

All profits from this book will go to NHS Charities Together to fund vital research and projects and the Lullaby Trust which supports parents bereaved of babies and young children.

The NHS is our single greatest achievement as a country. No matter who you are, no matter what your health needs are and no matter how much money you have, the NHS is there for you. In ‘DEAR NHS’, 100 inspirational people come together to share their stories of how the National Health Service has been there for them and changed their lives in the process. By turns deeply moving, hilarious, hopeful and impassioned, these stories together become a love letter to the NHS and the 1.4 million people who go above and beyond the call of duty every single day – selflessly, generously, putting others before themselves, never more so than now.

They are all heroes, and this book is our way of saying thank you.

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My review

A funny, emotional, sometimes sad collection of very short stories and/or tributes from a range of celebrities, about their experiences of the NHS.

It made me feel very proud to be British when reading this, something I have to say I’ve been in short supply of recently… I am a huge fan of the NHS so of course I knew I would buy this book excitedly (especially knowing donations from the sale of it went to NHS-related charities) but I think anyone who enjoys short, sharp stories and a little peek into the lives of famous people will enjoy it.

Some of the pieces are just a quick, fairly standard ‘thank you’, and I feel they could have been written by anyone to be honest (these were my least favourite), but a lot of them offered more of an insight into their lives for the reader – and there are SO many contributors to this book (109 in fact) so there are too many to highlight really. However, I particularly enjoyed the various comedian’s contributions as they were, unsurprisingly, very funny, and some of the touching, sweet stories about children being born. Some made me feel quite sad, with one towards the end leaving me in tears.

Adam Kay’s foreword is, of course, a great and humorous way to kick off the book. I think this is a lovely book to own (so would make a great present) and, of course, it’s all for a great cause.

Rating: 4/5

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