What a privilege to record this extraordinary book by heart surgery Professor Stephen Westaby. His first book Fragile Lives (which I also recorded) is passionate and powerful but The Knife’s Edge is darker and angrier. His battle trying save lives (often desperately ill babies) is nothing compared to his constant battle with NHS bureaucracy. He describes in gruesome detail a number of operations – so it’s not for the squeamish – but the book is so moving. Three or four times I had to stop because the emotion got to me. At the end of the recording my lovely producer Lauren had tears streaming down her face. We were both drained. A wonderful memoir from an extraordinary, difficult, grumpy but wonderful man. The book should be required reading for anyone who wants to know what the NHS is like from the inside

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