Rachel Clarke’s eagerly awaited second book Dear Life has just been published to critical acclaim. It combines her experiences as a specialist in palliative medicine with the story of the death from cancer of her GP father. It has been called ‘a love letter, to a father, to a profession, to life itself.’
Her first book Your Life in My Hands has been similarly acclaimed as an unflinching but tender account of life as a doctor in the NHS. It was written when Rachel was deeply involved in the Junior Doctors dispute with the then Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt. Before going to medical school Dr Clarke was a television journalist and documentary maker.
Some recent reviews of Dear Life:
- ‘This is a wonderful book. Rachel takes the worst life can throw at us and shows us the beauty in it, and the very best of human nature’ – Adam Kay
- ‘A truly wonderful book. Read it’ – Henry Marsh, author of Do No Harm
- ‘Moving, thought-provoking and so very important. I’m immeasurably grateful to have read it, and it will stay with me. In death, we learn about life’ – Nigella Lawson
- ‘What a remarkable book this is; tender, funny, brave, heartfelt, radiant with love and life. It brought me often to laughter and – several times – to tears. It sings with joy and kindness’ – Robert MacFarlane