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Ingrid Persaud's  debut novel Love After Love blew me away the first time I read it in 2020 shortly after it was published.  Re-reading it recently for this podcast has made me love it even more.

The title of this novel is from the Derek Walcott poem Love After Love - find it here https://allpoetry.com/love-after-love it is also so moving and thought provoking.

Anita and I talk about the importance of loving reading, of escaping via the pages of a novel.  Love After Love, set in Trinidad and following a very unconventional family is a brilliant book in which to escape the winter blues and find yourself in the Caribbean.

Among other things there are themes of secrets, unconventional families, different types of love, migration, belonging, self harm, homophobia and expectations.  

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"It’s the summer of 1935, and young Briony sees her older sister Cecilia plunge nearly naked into the fountain of their country house, while Robbie Turner, the housekeeper’s son, is watching. From that moment, their lives will never be the same. Atonement is the tragically compelling story of two lovers fallen victims of a young girl’s scheming imagination, and a dreadful crime for which Briony will attempt to atone for the rest of her life."

I loved talking to Orthopaedic Surgeon Derek Ochiai about Ian McEwan's haunting novel Atonement.

We had a wonderful conversation around class, time, trusting narrators, the impossibility of truth, why we rather wish social media could be wiped clean on reaching the age of 18 and how in war the rules all disappear.

Follow Derek on Twitter here https://twitter.com/DrDerekOchiai

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**SPOILER ALERT** We tried hard to keep the twist a secret here but then Rahhiel got a bit carried away and mentioned a little part of it and then we kept talking and it was too hard to go back and decide to record this all over again. So if you've not read this incredible book and are adamant you'd want absolutely no spoilers at all, you might need to read it first.  If you've read it already or if you hate surprises anyway keep listening.

Christy Lefteri's bestselling novel The Beekeeper of Aleppo captivated me from the moment i picked it up.  I was transported to Syria, through Turkey, Greece to the south coast of England.  It is a beautiful story told in the voice of Nuri the beekeeper and narrates the journey he takes with his wife Afra to leave their beloved home to find a safer life.

The Trailblazer fellowship programme is well worth looking at https://heeoe.hee.nhs.uk/general_practice/fellowships-primary-care/trailblazer-deprivation-fellowships

The organisation Doctors of the World produce some amazing resources for working with refugees https://www.doctorsoftheworld.org.uk/

The difficulties Afra and Nuri face when registering with a GP could have been avoided if only their practice knew about this guidance
https://www.nhs.uk/nhs-services/gps/how-to-register-with-a-gp-surgery/

Linking again to the phenomenal Fairhealth resources and their courses on health inequalities
https://www.fairhealth.org.uk/courses

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This week's book choice is the newest novel by prolific American writer Kristin Hannah.  Set in the dust bowl of the USA in the 1930s it's historical fiction covering a time period my guest, Kathryn Oliver, and I knew little of before we picked it up.  We'd initially  read this novel as part of a HEE educator book club and I admit that having been blown away by earlier novels by Kristin Hannah (most particularly The Great Alone and The Nightingale this wasn't right up there as a favourite of her books for me.

Then we got chatting.... There is SO much in this story.  Poverty, hope, aspiration, expectations,  the role of women in the early 20th century,  putting your children first, moving for a better life (refugees vs economic migrants anyone?)

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Naveen Jayadev is a GP in North Derbyshire and a Training Programme Director for the Chesterfield and Derbyshire Dales GP Training Programme with a specialist interest in Differential Attainment.  He was born and educated in India.  We got together to talk about How India Works a book which might not initially seem relevant to medicine, written by a corporate trainer from an Indian financial services background.... Listen on, it's totally relevant.

This is a fascinating window into Indian Culture and has very much helped me to think more about Differential Attainment, cultural competence and why it's not good enough as a trainer/educator to assume we can help IMG doctors to understand British Culture and nuance without making an effort to understand where they are coming from.

Naveen also mentioned:
Watching the English by Kate Fox which is often recommended by NHS England

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This novel by Elif Shafak is undoubtedly my top read of 2022 and so it was a delight to be approached by Sabina Dosani to discuss it.  We talk about intergenerational trauma, adolescent norms, loss, escapism and much more.

There's a theme of roots, of secrets, things buried and things left unsaid.  It's a sensational novel and one I am so glad to have read.

Follow her on twitter here https://twitter.com/DrSabinaDosani

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Rebecca Schiller's memoir Earthed was described by today's guest, Anna Young,  as "like a car crash told in prose poetry".  This is a beautiful book, in places not an easy read and one in which we both acknowledge that we "missed" the (in retrospect obvious) diagnosis in spite of thinking we were pretty good at our jobs in primary care.

We talk about the healing power of nature, the importance of support and networks, and neurodiversity in a neurotypical world.

October is ADHD awareness month https://www.adhdawarenessmonth.org/ so it was lovely to be able to mark that on the podcast with this episode

Follow Anna on Twitter https://twitter.com/annanursesheff

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It was an honour and a pleasure to record today's episode with one of the most engaging, gracious and thoughtful people I've met.  Liz O'Riordan, writer, speaker, campaigner, breast cancer patient and breast surgeon. When I joined Twitter Liz  O'Riordan quickly became someone I was aware of and fascinated to follow.  She is a #medtwitter hero and an incredible role model. 

We talk about her breast cancer,  and its effect on her and on her career. How no matter how good a breast cancer doctor she was, she had little clue what it would actually be like to have breast cancer.  We discuss the book she wrote with fellow doctor/breast cancer patient Prof Trish Greenhalgh, how academic writing bears little resemblance to the writing people/patients would actually want to read. 

We also talk about her new book, mental health stigma in medicine and so much more.

Liz's website is here:
https://liz.oriordan.co.uk/

She has incredibly generously offered podcast listeners a discount on her new book using the code BEDSIDE10 for 10% off until midnight 19 Dec 2022
https://unbound.com/books/under-the-knife

Follow Liz on Twitter https://twitter.com/Liz_ORiordan

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Could this be one of the most devastatingly beautiful books I've ever read? A rollercoaster of emotions from hope to despair and back again. A love story about a woman who is fatally flawed, doing her best, loving and losing and a small boy whose world in 1980s Glasgow is bright vividly to life in Douglas Stuart's wonderful first novel.

Helen Blomfield was the perfect guest to explore this novel with.  An Occupational Therapist ACP (my first OT guest)  working in Primary Care with a deep interest in health inequalities Helen also has the family connection of being the daughter in law of photographer Robert Blomfield who captured many images reminiscent of the cover photo and scenes within this novel. 
We talked a little about the exhibition of his photos which you can see here: https://www.robertblomfield.co.uk/



Follow Helen on Twitter https://twitter.com/helenblomfield8

If you are interested in health inequalities the charity Fairhealth have some superb resources and learning modules here https://www.fairhealth.org.uk/

The memoir of the little girl in the photo Helen mentions is https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2983372-what-daddy-did


RESOURCES FOR SUPPORTING YOUNG CARERS

https://www.childrenssociety.org.uk/what-we-do/our-work/supporting-young-carers

https://www.carersuk.org/help-and-advice/practical-support/getting-care-and-support/young-carers-and-carers-of-children-under-18

https://www.actionforchildren.org.uk/our-work-and-impact/children-and-families/young-carers/


We also discussed Deborah Orr's wonderful memoir Motherwell https://www.theguardian.com/books/2020/jan/08/motherwell-a-girlhood-deborah-orr-review

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Absolutely brilliant to talk to Jay Baruch about his fabulous book Tornado of Life.  We talk about making time for stories, narrative arcs and why uncertainty is the most fascinating part of everything we do. Exploring the concept of creativity as a clinical skill and discussing the anatomy of stories was all part of our fabulous conversation, I hope you'll enjoy it

Follow Jay on twitter here https://twitter.com/JBaruchMD