One body - Catherine Simpson

Shortlisted in Scotland's National Book Awards

By the time she reached her fifties, Catherine had experienced period pain, childbirth, andearly menopause, alongside love and laughter, a career in journalism, and raising two daughters. Like many of her peers, along the way she'd dieted, jogged, sweated, tanned, permed, and plucked-always attempting toconform to prevailing standards of "acceptable womanhood."

But when a medical crisis comes along, she can no longer pummel her body into submission and is forced to take stock.From growing upona farm where veterinarians were more common than doctors, and where illness was "a nuisance," she nowfaces the nuisance of a lifetime.

One Bodyis the demystifying, relatable, often hilarious, and sometimes hair-raising story of how Catherine navigates her treatment and the emotions and reflections it provokes. And how she comes to drop the unattainable standards imposedonher body, and simply appreciate the skin she is in.