Title: Be Patient

Author: Tilly Rose

Genre: Nonfiction

Publisher: Monoray

Publication Date: 17th April 2025

Rating: 5/5

Cover:

Summary:

It’s the sleepover from hell that no one prepared you for. The doctors have gone to medical school, the nurses have gone to uni – but what about the patients?

Be Patient is a warm, darkly comic account of Tilly’s desperate search for a diagnosis, against the backdrop of a hilariously funny, heartfelt and, at times, shocking insight into patient life.

A ‘medical mystery’ for over 20 years, Tilly has spent a lifetime navigating GP waiting rooms, A&E departments and hospital wards. She has been given a front row seat watching humanity at its worst (or its best, depending on how you look at it). Along the way, she has become highly qualified at two things: being a patient and being very patient.

Now, she is shining a bright hospital strip light onto a space that none of us want to occupy but one we know, with some certainty, that we will. Complete with ‘survival tips’ and fuelled with humour (the best medicine of all), Be Patient is an extraordinary memoir on resilience, hope and finding strength in the face of adversity.

Review:

I’m honestly not sure how to do this fantastic book justice in a review but I’ll give it a go. I should say, that I have chronic illnesses that started about nine years ago, and although Tilly has had different illnesses and procedures to me, so much of what she has been through resonated with me in a very powerful way. The way she perfectly articulates what it is like to be a patient in hospital, not once, but over and over again, is so accurate and familiar that it actually made reading this book quite an emotional experience for me. Similarly to Tilly, I’ve been a bit of a medical mystery and have experiences with medical trauma so it felt really quite heartbreaking to read about someone else going through something that I understand incredibly well but often find hard to articulate myself. Tilly writes so beautifully, with a warmth and wit that leaps off the pages. I think she’s incredibly strong and I honestly wish I had her grace in such difficult circumstances. Be Patient is honest, empathetic, harrowing, sometimes funny and so full of heart.

If you have dealt with chronic health issues then this book will make you feel seen and validated. However, even if you yourself haven’t had to cope with serious health issues then I still urge you to read this book because almost everyone at the very least knows someone who is dealing with chronic illness and Be Patient will give you a heartfelt understanding of what it is truly like. I cannot recommend this book highly enough – please do add it to your TBR. Remarkable, raw and beautifully executed – a very easy five stars from me and a book that will stay with me forever. 

★★★★★

Thank you so much to Anne Cater of Random Things Blog Tours for inviting me on this tour and organising it. I kindly received a copy of the book from the publisher. My review is entirely my own honest opinion.

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