An insightful, tender and inspiring memoir that explores the emotional side of a doctor’s working life.

An insightful, tender and inspiring memoir that explores the reality of life on the NHS front line.

‘Brilliant, compelling… A hugely life-affirming book’ Mail on Sunday

Grief. Anger. Joy. Fear. Distraction. Disgust. Hope.

All emotions we expect to encounter over our lifetime. But what if this was every day? And what if your ability to manage them was the difference between life and death?

For Aoife Abbey, a doctor in intensive care, these experiences are part of the job - from grief when you make a potentially fatal mistake to joy when the ward unexpectedly breaks into song. Seven Signs of Life is Abbey’s extraordinary account of what it means to be alive and how it feels to care for a living.

‘Sensitive, honest and, yes, brave… Compulsive reading’ Nigella Lawson

‘Heartfelt, honest, illuminating and wise’ Julia Samuel, author of This Too Shall Pass