Knife’s Edge

A TIMES BEST BOOK OF 2019
An intimate and compelling exploration into the unique psyche of the heart surgeon, by one of the profession’s most eminent figures.

Reviews

‘Wholly believable… The book [has] an unmistakable feeling of authenticity.’ Daily Telegraph
‘What makes this memoir so readable is Westaby’s unexpected admissions of vulnerability.’ The Times, Book of the Week
Praise for Fragile Lives:
‘Raw and moving… the writing is thrilling. Fragile Lives is a frank and absorbing memoir by a man who has done about as much good to his fellow human beings as it is possible to do in one lifetime.’ – The Times, Book of the Week
‘With his battle cry of “bugger protocol” and his renaming of medical directors as “the Stasi”, Westaby comes across as the bloke you’d want on your side in the fight to stay alive.’ Guardian Books of the Year
‘The stakes could not be higher in this bloody, muscular and adrenaline-charged memoir from a pioneering heart surgeon… at points it made my own heart race dangerously. ‘Surgeons are meant to be objective,’ Westaby tells himself, ‘not human’. What makes this book so fascinating, and so moving, is the terrible tension between these necessary qualities.’ – Sunday Times
‘A full-frontal and thrilling portrayal. Each story in this fascinating book brings a new nail-biting surgical adventure… A gifted surgeon, Westaby is also a natural writer… Fragile Lives succeeds on many levels: political battle cry, chronicle of bloody feats, history of modern cardiology, tribute to patients and paean to surgery.’ – Daily Telegraph
‘The book is a cracking example of a thriving sub-genre of autobiography, the medical memoir. Anyone who enjoyed the 2014 bestseller Do No Harm by the brain surgeon Henry Marsh, a friend of Westaby’s, will relish Fragile Lives, too. Each story is gripping, written in a vivid, almost brutal way that matches the blood and gore of cardiac surgery.’ – Financial Times