Christie Watson – författare

”Göra gott” är en kärleksfull inifrånskildring av ett livsviktigt yrke. Christie Watson berättar personligt och medkännande om de erfarenheter hon samlat under sina tjugo år som sjuksköterska – från födsel till död, från akuten till långvården.

Vi får följa med när en orolig mamma för första gången vågar hålla sin för tidigt födda son i famnen. När akutlarmet går. Under plågsamt långa och komplicerade hjärtoperationer. Och vid det svåraste av allt, när ett barn har dött och den sörjande familjen ska ta farväl.

Christie Watsons hyllade berättelse inger hopp och lyfter fram betydelsen av omtanke, omsorg och vänlighet – även utanför sjukhusets väggar.

WINNER OF THE COSTA FIRST NOVEL AWARD, BY THE BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF THE LANGUAGE OF KINDNESS AND THE COURAGE TO CARE''Everything changed after Mama found Father lying on top of another woman.'' Blessing and her brother Ezikiel adore their larger-than-life father, their glamorous mother and their comfortable life in Lagos. But all that changes when their father leaves them for another woman. Their mother is fired from her job at the Royal Imperial Hotel - only married women can work there - and soon they have to quit their air-conditioned apartment to go and live with their grandparents in a compound in the Niger Delta.Adapting to life with a poor countryside family is a shock beyond measure after their privileged upbringing in Lagos. Told in Blessing''s own beguiling voice, Tiny Sunbirds Far Away shows how some families can survive almost anything. At times hilarious, always poignant, occasionally tragic, it is peopled with characters you will never forget.

A story of family, adoption, belonging and love from the Costa-winning author of Tiny Sunbirds Far Away and the bestselling nursing memoirs, The Language of Kindness and The Courage to CareElijah, seven years old, is covered in scars and has a history of disruptive behaviour. His adoptive mother Nikki believes that she and her husband Obi are strong enough to accept his difficulties - and that being white will not affect her ability to raise a black son. Elijah''s birth mother Deborah loves her son like the world has never known. Elijah thinks it''s his fault they can''t be together. Each of them faces more challenges than they could have dreamed, but just as Elijah starts to settle in, a shocking event rocks their fragile peace and the result is devastating.''Kept us gripped throughout . . stayed with us long after we''d finished the final page'' Stylist

''Compulsively readable'' SUNDAY TIMES''A superior medical thriller'' GUARDIAN''Darkly gripping'' OBSERVERYou''re trained to save the lives of others. But how far would you go to save your own?Olivia, Laura and Anjali couldn''t be more different. Inseparable since the first day of medical school, their bond has remained unbreakable. Years ago, they promised nothing would come between them - including the wild university party that forced them to make a deadly choice.Now working as doctors in high-pressure jobs, with lives and families of their own, their secret binds them tighter still. But when an eerily similar tragedy affects their teenage children, the choice the three women face may not be one their friendship can survive . . .

Random House presents the audiobook edition of The Language of Kindness: A Nurse''s Story, written and read by Christie Watson. Christie Watson was a nurse for twenty years. Taking us from birth to death and from A&E to the mortuary, The Language of Kindness is an astonishing account of a profession defined by acts of care, compassion and kindness.We watch Christie as she nurses a premature baby who has miraculously made it through the night, we stand by her side during her patient’s agonising heart-lung transplant, and we hold our breath as she washes the hair of a child fatally injured in a fire, attempting to remove the toxic smell of smoke before the grieving family arrive.In our most extreme moments, when life is lived most intensely, Christie is with us. She is a guide, mentor and friend. And in these dark days of division and isolationism, she encourages us all to stretch out a hand.

Brought to you by Penguin.There is something raw in the fault lines, something wilder and more mysterious. There is beauty in the falling apart, a less polished, more honest version of expression.In her early twenties, Christie Watson was convinced she''d found her soulmate, in a glowing flash of light that turned out to be her tealights setting her quilt on fire. Twenty years later, her bed is burning once again... as she wakes in a perimenopausal sweat, night after night.This is the story of her journey through mid-life: of the joy of letting go and the pain of the morning after, of the unstoppable power of female friendship and the struggle to raise teenagers as a single parent. It lays bare the exhilaration, agony, wonder and fears of being a middle-aged woman with a wild heart, a changing body and a new set of challenges. And as her world takes on a different shape, there''s something else she starts to feel: the hot flush of possibility.''I adore Christie Watson. Quilt on Fire is full of her trademark candour, compassion and humour. A wildly entertaining - and necessary book'' ELIZABETH DAY© Christie Watson 2022 (P) Penguin Audio 2022

Brought to you by Penguin.A vital and timely book about inspirational nurses, and the bravery of patients and families, from the bestselling author of The Language of KindnessNurses have never been more important. We benefit from their expertise in our hospitals and beyond: in our schools, on our streets, in prisons, hospices and care homes. When we feel most alone, nurses remind us that we are not alone at all.In The Courage to Care bestselling author Christie Watson reveals the remarkable extent of nurses’ work. A community mental-health nurse choreographs support for a man suffering from severe depression. A teen with stab wounds is treated by the critical-care team; his school nurse visits and he drops the bravado. A pregnant woman loses frightening amounts of blood following a car accident; it is a military nurse who synchronises the emergency department into immaculate order and focus.Christie makes a further discovery: that, time and again, it is patients and their families – including her own – who show exceptional strength in the most challenging times. We are all deserving of compassion, and as we share in each other’s suffering, Christie Watson shows us how we can find courage too. The courage to care.© Christie Watson 2020 (P) Penguin Audio 2020

Brought to you by Penguin.How can we communicate when things are so painful? How can we connect when generational differences are extreme? How do parents and teenagers - and all of us - have real conversations? When Rowan was sixteen, she only tolerated communication from her mother in the form of Snapchat. Desperate to be closer to her daughter, Christie sent daily selfies of her face superimposed onto a chicken nugget. It took serious illness for them to finally talk – and truly listen.Rowan''s mental health struggles revealed the chasm between their generations. They started being more honest with each other than they had ever been before: discussing identity, race and gender; opening up about disordered eating and self-harm; navigating the perils of social media.In an age of polarisation, this is how a mother and daughter find humour in the things that divide them and become more hopeful about the future of our world.A book for all parents and teenagers going through a tough time, for friends, grandparents, teachers and healthcare professionals who want to help, its bare honesty will have you laughing – and possibly crying – out loud as it shows that you are not alone.''Psychologically astute, totally honest and beautifully written'' JULIA SAMUEL''Incredibly brave, generous and important'' CLOVER STROUD''It made me cry, laugh and hug my daughter extra tightly'' BRYONY GORDON© Christie Watson and Rowan Egberongbe 2025 (P) Penguin Audio 2025