Be Patient – Tilly Rose

Published By: Monoray
Pages: 320
Released On: 17/04/2025

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.

*****

Thanks to Anne at Random Things Book Tours for the gifted copy of this title in return for an honest review and spot on the book tour.

As someone who has had their fair share of health issues and hospital visits, this book went straight on my wishlist. And I really identified with her story so much. Not in terms of the diagnosis, but in terms of her experience. Being moved from pillar to post, this doctor and that doctor, this scan and that scan. And the fact that she reads in order to cope with her situation – I felt that.

I read it in less than a day. Some non-fiction, especially medical ones, can be a bit dry and feel difficult to get through but not this one. It reads like a thrilling novel, you’re so hooked on it.

As someone with a potentially incurable condition (different to Tilly’s), it can be hard to explain to people, even your nearest and dearest, what it’s like, what you need, how they can help. I’ve been ill since 2017 and I’m still unsure how to approach it really and then this book comes along and its like a godsend. I thoroughly recommend reading this, whether you’re the sick one or you’re a friend or relative, or even if you don’t know anyone sick. It’s an emotional but vital manual.

I don’t want to compare it to other books because it’s important as it is, but I couldn’t move past my comparisons to Alex Kay’s This Is Going To Hurt. It’s got that dark humour about it but it’s full of heart.

I don’t want this to come across as corny, although maybe it is, but I don’t think I’ve ever read a book that spoke to me so much about something so few people understand, and I can’t explain just how important that is.

I’m going to get a bit personal here. I took an overdose in September 2024 due to worsening mental and physical health and I really think I would have been better if I had this book then. This book could be a life saver.