Alive

An Alternative Anatomy

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WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO LIVE IN A BODY?

For Gabriel Weston, there was always something missing from the anatomy she was taught at medical school. As she became a surgeon, a mother, and ultimately a patient, she found herself grappling with the gap between the body she understood as a doctor, and the reality of living in one.

In this captivating exploration of our organs, a fuller and more human picture of our bodies emerges: more fragile, frightening and miraculous than we could ever have imagined.

An exceptional, beautiful and absolutely absorbing book. Gabriel Weston is one of the best writers around, and when it comes to medicine and anatomy she redefines the genre. ALIVE is a tour of human life and bodies, but she also brings her own body, in the context of her own life, into an absolutely compelling narrative; sex, pregnancy, asylum seekers, breast implants and hearts – especially the author's own heart, in every sense. It is essential reading if you own a body and should be mandatory for all those who study them.
Chris van Tulleken, author of ULTRA PROCESSED PEOPLE

About Gabriel Weston

Gabriel Weston was born in 1970. She studied English at Edinburgh University before attending medical school in London and becoming a Member of the Royal College of Surgeons in 2003. Her Sunday Times bestselling debut, Direct Red, was longlisted for the Guardian First Book Award and won the PEN-Ackerley Award for Autobiography, while her novel Dirty Work won the McKitterick Prize. The presenter of several BBC TV series, including Trust Me I’m a Doctor and Incredible Medicine: Dr Weston’s Casebook, she currently works as a part-time surgeon and lives in London with her husband and children.

Details

Imprint: Vintage
Published: 26/02/2026
ISBN: 9781529931716
Length: 304 pages
Price: £10.99

All editions

Alive

An Alternative Anatomy

Format:

Pre-order:

Superb. It adds humanity back into textbook diagrams of organs, with brilliance and beauty.

A book of wonder and appreciation of our fragile bodies

Weston interweaves anatomy with medical history, public health, anecdotes from her surgical practice, and, above all, the warm, pulsing, personal experience of her own living body… What sings from the page is Weston’s intoxication with the human form

Unusual and gripping... as much about what our bodies mean to us, how they feel to us, as what they do... This bold, humane yet unsettling book...will make you see your own body a bit differently, perhaps change how you feel in your skin.

Change relies on people pushing against the heavy door of tradition – which Alive brilliantly persuades us all to do more forcefully – finding new ways to imagine and inhabit the space beneath our skin

As Gabriel Weston demonstrates in this remarkable book, each organ of our body is a miracle of evolutionary imagination, performing tasks that are outlandishly creative and brilliant. An unusually compelling and illuminating book.

Gabriel Weston is an extraordinary writer … The book is a powerful read… Her descriptions really make the human body come alive.

Refreshingly accessible... Alive comes heartily recommended to anyone wishing to better acquaint themselves with their own fluids

A gripping and lyrical tour of the major organs... filled with fascinating facts... there is a lot of tenderness too.

About Gabriel Weston

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