Recovery
The Lost Art of Convalescence
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- $14.99
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- $14.99
Publisher Description
“An essential book for our times, full of wisdom, compassion and sound advice. Every patient needs a copy of this gem.” –Katherine May, author of Wintering and Enchantment
A gentle, expert guide to the secrets of recovery, showing why we need it and how to do it better
For many of us, time spent in recovery—from a broken leg, a virus, chronic illness, or the crisis of depression or anxiety—can feel like an unwelcome obstacle on the road to health. Modern medicine too often assumes that once doctors have prescribed a course of treatment, healing takes care of itself. But recovery isn’t something that “just happens.” It is an act that we engage in and that has the potential to transform our lives, if only we can find ways to learn its rhythms and invest our time, energy, and participation.
Drawing on thirty years of medicine, and on insights from practitioners, psychologists, and writers across history, physician Gavin Francis delivers a profound, practical, and deeply hopeful guide to recovery. Rejecting the idea that healing is passive, Recovery offers tools and wisdom for convalescence, and shows how tending to our bodies, environments, and perspectives can help us move through the landscape of illness—and come out the other side whole.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
In this succinct and perceptive outing, Francis (Intensive Care) shares insights into the healing process gleaned over his 30-plus years as a general practitioner. While its "rhythms and... tempo are often slow and gentle," convalescence is "anything but a passive process," Francis writes. Recovery involves psychological, social, and biological shifts, and patients should devote "adequate time, energy, and respect" to healing. Francis explores a different facet of convalescence in each chapter, including nature as a curative force, the role of caretakers, how social inequalities shape who gets "permission to recover," and even the occasional, fragile gifts of illness, such as the discovery of an unknown inner strength or a new appreciation for one's normally taken-for-granted good health. Chapters end with snippets of takeaway advice; for instance, Francis recommends that those in recovery "reprioritize your work-life balance however you can" and "build into every day some way to appreciate nature." Taking stock of the healing process from the perspectives of patient, doctor, and caretaker, Francis sheds nuanced light on an often fraught and private experience, and encourages readers to reimagine illnesses as "stories of the mind and body" because "within limits, stories can be rewritten." Those on the mend may gain the most, but readers of all stripes will find wisdom here.
