Shadows In Wonderland: A Hospital Odyssey

When television producer Colin Ludlow was admitted to hospital for an operation, he expected to be home in ten days. In the event, he ended up staying for five months, nearly died on several occasions, contracted MRSA, and was still recovering from his experiences more than three years later.PIn Shadows in Wonderland he tells his story, and takes a fascinating philosophical journey through chronic illness as he explores its wider significance. The book is a moving account of how the author pieced together the shattered fragments of his life and sought to make sense of them again. It is the record of a quest - which we all face - for health and wholeness in a fractured, disjointed world. P 'Medicine is not just about science. It's also all about stories, and about the mingling of narratives among doctors, and between them and their patients. P'The combination of one man's personal experience of the NHS, together with a brilliant analysis of what is wrong with the system and how it goes wrong, makes for a compelling and illuminating read for everyone. It should be required reading, a daily catechism, for all officials from the health secretary down who are responsible for our national health.BRNina Bawden, Novelist