Ward Nine: Coronavirus by Alys Morgan

Ward Nine: Coronavirus is a memoir written by Alys Morgan of her experience with the dreadful virus which left her hospitalised for three weeks. Morgan presents what it is like to have the virus and how hard it is for all the NHS workers who have helped during the Coronavirus pandemic. We follow her from when she had symptoms that were not originally listed as Coronavirus symptoms and at the time of writing this review still are not listed as symptoms on the NHS website, and then we follow her as she is supported mentally and physically in a hospital to help her recover. This is, as Morgan describes herself, a love letter to the NHS and Mind Wales.

I loved this book as it was very interesting to discover the virus through Morgan's eyes and also read details of how the nasty virus affected her. There are very few memoirs out yet regarding the Coronavirus and this is one of the first I have heard of and I think it is a great idea to share individual experiences of the virus to help people understand why we are isolating and following the government guidance. Furthermore, it reminds us, readers, just how great our NHS are and how they indeed deserve better, for example, better salaries. This book was extremely gripping and I found it incredibly hard to put down, I managed to read the book in only three days although I could have probably read it in two days! 

I call this memoir a piece of Literature because I would say this book has lasting 'artistic' merit and I hope in many years from now this will be a text studied in English Literature at Secondary Schools just like texts like Macbeth are taught. This virus will obviously never be forgotten and books like this will be very valuable to the future generation and many people will thank Morgan for sharing her experiences of the virus.

I cannot say there is anything I disliked about this book. However, I can say I am a bit upset that the book was so short and I read it so quickly because I loved it so much and I wish there was more to read. This book is one of those books which you enjoy so much that you want more but you can't get more because you have finished the book. Hopefully, more people will publish memoirs in the future about Coronavirus and hopefully, they will be as good as this book so I can enjoy more Non-fiction COVID-19 Literature.

Altogether, I just have to rate this book 5 stars as it is an outstanding book that will be read for many many years. It will be one of those books which are still often read when it gets in the public domain. This book reminds us of what the age of Coronavirus was like and how next time we need to be better prepared and support our key workers more than we currently do. I recommend this book to many people and I hope when we are all grandparents we can pass this book to our grandchildren to teach them about the age of Covid. I would like to Thank Alys Morgan for sharing her experiences with the Coronavirus for many people to read. I also would like to thank Net Galley and Parthian Books for providing me with an arc copy of the book in return for an honest review.