Watching in the Dark: A Child's Fight for Life

by Artemis Cooper

Tells the story of the author's child's inexplicable sudden illness and the way in which the child herself, her parents, friends, family and her doctors fought to save her. Life in a children's ward is described along with the story of how Nella's illness made medical history.

134 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1993

About the author

She is the only daughter of the second Viscount Norwich and his first wife, Anne (née Clifford), and a granddaughter of Lady Diana Cooper. She has a brother, the Hon. Jason Charles Duff Bede Cooper, and a half-sister, Allegra Huston, the only child of Lord Norwich and Enrica Soma Huston, the estranged wife of American film director John Huston. She attended the French Lycee, the Convent of the Sacred Heart in Woldingham and Camden School for Girls. She then went to St Hugh's College, Oxford and obtained a degree in English language and literature. In July 2015, she was awarded an honorary doctorate from the University of York.

She spent time in Alexandria, Egypt, with Voluntary Service Overseas teaching English at the University of Alexandria. She has also lived in America, mostly in New Mexico.

In 1986, Artemis Cooper married fellow writer and historian Antony Beevor. The couple have two children, Nella and Adam.

Reviews

[Lola · Rating 3 out of 5]

The story of baby Eleanor, called Nella, a healthy child who suddenly
turned ill, life-threateningly ill. She was unresponsive & doctors didn't
know if she would live. Her intestines had become diseased & didn't
function as they should.
With no other options, doctors decided to try an experimental drug
known as EGF. If it didn't work for Nella, it at least would cause no harm.
But, in time, it did work & started the growth of new cilli, the hair-like
fibers of the intestine.
The baby went through hell but eventually was able to go home & was
pronounced "healthy" by her doctors. Her case was written up in medical
journals as a successful trial of the drug.