Always the Children

Anne Watts was born in 1940, completed her training as a nurse and midwife at Manchester Royal Infirmary in 1961, and went on to work in some the world's most turbulent war zones from the 1960s through to the 1980s. Her life story reads like a chronicle of the past seven decades of world history. She lives in Devon and London and has now embarked on a career as a writer. Always the Children: A Nurse's Story of Home and War is her first book.

'Anne Watts chose a life of dedication as a nurse and had to deal with human wreckage at its most heart-rending, but the devotion and sympathetic force she brings to dealing with it suggest there just might be some hope for humanity yet' Clive James A magnificent life story. I feel humbled by Anne Watts' experiences' Jennifer Worth intensely moving ' Daily Express 25/6 'a vivid, humbling memoir' arle Richardson, Yours ne way or another, war has shaped and dictated the remarkable life story of nurse Anne Watts... Now approaching her 70th birthday, Watts has put pen to paper and recorded her truly incredible story as a tribute to the children to whom she brought hope, and the young soldiers whose hands she held as they died. And what shines through the horror, the pain and the utter futility of war is Watts' inspirational devotion, her spirit of adventure and her will to alleviate suffering whatever or wherever it might be. Her story is made all the more extraordinary by a bizarre and shocking sequence of events -- a tragic reminder of the consequences of the buttoned-up Fifties -- which destroyed her childhood and culminated in her mother's premature death. But Watts is a survivor...she learned from her experiences but never allowed them to inhibit her own capacity for compassion. ...ALWAYS THE CHILDREN is a humbling, terrifying, shocking and yet strangely uplifting story of one woman's selfless devotion and her undiminished determination to alleviate the suffering of her fellow human being. If you only read one book in 2010, make it this one.' ancashire Evening Post 'A vivid and moving memoir' ournemouth Daily Echo 'Anne Watts' memoir has so many impressive elements, it's hard to give it the praise it, and she, deserve ... This is a tale of real courage and devotion to other people's children. The word heroine has rarely been used so pertinently' bigail Kemp, Manchester Evening News