UCL Bookshelf: 'What seems to be the trouble? Stories in illness and healthcare'

In 'What seems to be the trouble?' Trisha Greenhalgh, Professor of Primary Care at UCL, takes a narrative approach to narrative.

A story, she says, can explain an illness, help to diagnose an illness, illuminate the dark corners of a complex illness and generate new meaning, or help to shape an illness. …

It's a bit unnerving to see J K Rowling (author of the Harry Potter children's books) on the same page as Martha Nussbaum (the American philosopher), or to skip from Aristotle to Derrida and Foucault in a book of fewer than 100 pages, but the author has the deft touch of a skilled raconteur. In these and the other chapters on illness, healing, learning and ethics, medical readers will gain practical insights and a better understanding of the narrative approach.

J Jill Gordon, 'The Medical Journal of Australia'