Christie Watson

"A memoir about the experiences of a nurse in London, focusing on the overlooked importance of kindness and compassion"--Provided by publisher.

A Nurse's Story

The Language of Kindness

After her parents separate, Blessing's mother moves with her and her brother Ezikiel to live in a village in the Niger Delta, where Blessing gradually adjusts, but Ezikiel soon leads a dangerous life as a boy soldier.

A Novel

Tiny Sunbirds, Far Away

Elijah is seven years old, with 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 her being white will not affect her ability to raise a black son. Deborah, Elijah's birth mother, is ever present, and her on-going love for her son is a constant reminder for Nikki of something she's not part of, and that she's never had. Although each of them face more challenges than they could have dreamed of, Elijah eventually starts to settle in. But then Nikki becomes pregnant, and everything changes.

Where Women are Kings

Nurses 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 author Christie Watson reveals the remarkable extent of nurses' work. A community mental-health nurse choreographs support for a man suffering from severe depression. The critical-care team try to save the life of a teen suffering from stab wounds when a visit from his school nurse allows him to show his vulnerability. And when 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.

The Courage to Care

  Cartea lui Christie Watson vorbește despre iubirea maternă în cele mai felurite reprezentări ale sale, dar prezintă și lumea exotică a Nigeriei, cu senzațiile, culorile și mirosurile care o definesc.
Elijah, un băiețel nigerian de șapte ani, născut în Anglia, se luptă cu propriul comportament deviant, pe care îl consideră provocat de un vrăjitor dinăuntrul său.
Aflat în plin proces de adopție, Elijah este împărțit între iubirea pentru mama biologică, Deborah, și cea adoptivă, Nikki. La un moment dat, asistenții sociali descoperă că Elijah a fost abuzat și traumatizat fizic și psihic.
În lupta lui de a se accepta și de a-și găsi liniștea alături de noua sa familie, Elijah vrea să se convingă, totuși, de dragostea lui Deborah, iar prețul pe care îl plătește este devastator.

Acolo unde femeile sunt regi

Moral Injuries

'I adore Christie Watson. Quilt on Fire is full of her trademark candour, compassion and humour. A wildly entertaining - and necessary book' ELIZABETH DAY ________ 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.

The Messy Magic of Mid-Life

Quilt on Fire

Blessing och hennes storebror Ezekiel avgudar sin högröstade pappa, sin glamorösa mamma och njuter av ett bekvämt liv i Lagos. Men allt ändras när deras pappa lämnar dem för en annan kvinna. Blessings mamma blir av med jobbet och de måste flytta ifrån den luftkonditionerade lägenheten. De flyttar långt ut på landet till en liten by i Nigerdeltat, där Blessings mormor och morfar bor. Här är allt annorlunda, Ezekiel kan knappast äta någon mat eftersom han är allergisk, toalett och kylskåp finns inte alls, skolan blir ingen självklarhet och de byter religion. Från att ha varit kristna blir de nu muslimer. Blessing drömmer om att få lära upp sig till barnmorska medan Ezekiels dröm om att bli läkare blir allt svagare under inflytandet från traktens pojkmilis. Små solfåglar långt borta är en fantastisk, rolig, vacker och sorglig historia om en familj som trots uppbrott och förändringar får lära sig att älska varandra och hålla ihop.

Små solfåglar långt borta

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 Care Elijah, 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

From the author of The Courage to Care and The Language of Kindness

Winner of the 2011 Costa First Novel Award When their mother catches their father with another woman, twelve year-old Blessing and her fourteen-year-old brother, Ezikiel, are forced to leave their comfortable home in Lagos for a village in the Niger Delta, to live with their mother’s family. Without running water or electricity, Warri is at first a nightmare for Blessing. Her mother is gone all day and works suspiciously late into the night to pay the children’s school fees. Her brother, once a promising student, seems to be falling increasingly under the influence of the local group of violent teenage boys calling themselves Freedom Fighters. Her grandfather, a kind if misguided man, is trying on Islam as his new religion of choice, and is even considering the possibility of bringing in a second wife. But Blessing’s grandmother, wise and practical, soon becomes a beloved mentor, teaching Blessing the ways of the midwife in rural Nigeria. Blessing is exposed to the horrors of genital mutilation and the devastation wrought on the environment by British and American oil companies. As Warri comes to feel like home, Blessing becomes increasingly aware of the threats to its safety, both from its unshakable but dangerous traditions and the relentless carelessness of the modern world. Tiny Sunbirds, Far Away is the witty and beautifully written story of one family’s attempt to survive a new life they could never have imagined, struggling to find a deeper sense of identity along the way.

Nurses, Families and Hope

När Elijah är nyfödd dör hans pappa i en bilolycka. Hans mamma mår efter tragedin så dåligt att hon faller offer för en präst som övertygar henne om att en elak ”trollkarl” har intagit Elijahs kropp – och att pojken därför är roten till allt ont som händer, däribland pappans död. Elijahs mamma blir till slut tvångsintagen på sinnessjukhus och Elijah omhändertas av myndigheterna. Efter att ha bott hos flera dysfunktionella fosterfamiljer hamnar han hos Nikki och Obi, ett barnlöst par som genomlidit flera missfall. De tar emot Elijah med öppna armar och deras kärlek ger honom äntligen viss sinnesro. Men Nikki och Obi anar oråd när Elijah börjar skylla på den elaka trollkarlen varje gång han gör något olämpligt. När Nikki mot alla odds blir gravid och ska föda ett litet syskon till Elijah hotar trollkarlen att ta över helt.

Älskade Elijah

Uafrystelig og rørende roman om et barn, der er blevet gjort fortræd, men også om den stærke kærlighed mellem mor og barn. 'Elijah, min dejlige dreng. Du er elsket, som verden aldrig før har kendt kærlighed,' skriver Elijahs mor til sin syvårige søn, som hun er for syg til at tage sig af. Elijah har derfor boet hos mange fremmede familier i mange fremmede huse. Lige nu bor han hos Sue og Gary, hvor der er meget pænt og rent og lugter af kål. Men Elijah ved, at han næppe kommer til at bo der særlig længe. Han er nemlig besat af en troldmand, der får ham til at gøre onde ting, og det er kun et spørgsmål om tid, før Sue og Gary vil opgive at tage sig af ham. Et andet sted i London bor parret Nikki og Obi. De ønsker sig brændende et barn, men efter fire spontane aborter og et dødfødt barn tør de ikke selv prøve mere. På mange måder vil de være de perfekte adoptivforældre for Elijah, men at skulle tage sig af en dreng, hvis arrede krop vidner om en barndom med betydelige omsorgssvigt, kræver uanede mængder kærlighed og tålmodighed. Kan Nikki, Obi og Elijah mødes? Kan Elijah endelig få det trygge hjem, han i den grad har brug for? Og vil deres kærlighed kunne drive troldmanden på flugt?

Christie Watson

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