Many of us in the UK woke up this morning to a changed world. We are now effectively in lockdown with restrictions imposed on our travels, work and exercise. They are tough measures, but necessary because it seems that far too many people aren’t taking COVID-19 seriously. Rather than angry, this just makes me sad that in a time when the country needs to come together to help stop the spread of this nasty virus, there is still a lot of selfishness out there. I know these are scary and strange times but we need to think of others as well as ourselves at this time, and namely our precious but precarious NHS.
Can You Hear Me? seems to be an all the more poignant read right now as the UK health services are coming under unprecedented pressure as they struggle to cope with the impact of COVID-19. Jake Jones’s memoir talks about what it’s like to be on the frontline as a paramedic, the first responders to many callouts, large and small, minor and emergency. It’s a fascinating insight into the daily lives of just one of the pillars of our amazing healthcare system, and, alongside This is Going to Hurt by Adam Kay, it is an essential read that demonstrates just how important our healthcare staff are.
As someone whose partner is a healthcare front-liners, please follow the government guidelines to do your part in fighting the coronavirus outbreak. Our healthcare front-liners aren’t superhuman; they are giving the best they can to help us, so the least we can do is help them by staying at home.
If you’re fighting the cabin fever, I am running my daily writing prompts in my stories to help keep you inspired. I’ll also be pulling together some more material in the coming days and weeks and creating a newsletter so that inspiration can be delivered directly to your inbox. Drop me a line if you’d like to be included, but I’ll be popping a link on my website in due course.
Thank you to Quercus Books for this gifted copy in exchange for an honest review.
Rebecca Millar Editorial 