Sonny's Blues

Published: July 1, 2018, 11:01 p.m.

How James Baldwin's short story helped a doctor and her patient break down the divisions of class, age and race. This is part one of The Essay's five-part series, Narrative Medicine - a term coined to describe the capacity to recognize, absorb, metabolize, interpret, and be moved by stories of illness. Simply - it's medicine practised by someone who knows what to do with stories. Part of the BBC's NHS at 70 season. Warning: this episode deals with serious medical issues and trauma.