This book is beautifully written and at times it is hard to believe it is a fiction novel and not a memoir!
Told in a poetic style, this book tells of the main character Anna's struggle with anorexia and her time spent living at 17 Swann Street, a rehabilitation center for women with eating disorders. The book jumps from the past, when Anna is falling in love with her husband, to the onset of anorexia in the 3 years leading up to her time at 17 Swann Street, to the present where she is seeking treatment. The author does a great job of making you really feel what Anna is going through and what causes someone to end up with an eating disorder. Anna describes the other girls at 17 Swann Street and all of their stories are heartbreaking but important.
This book reads quick due to the poetic style it is told in. My only minor criticism would be that when jumping around in the timeline, it would often take me a few paragraphs to figure out where the setting of the new chapter was (past or present). Usually that's not too bad, but some of the chapters were only a page or two long.
Overall, this is a strong and powerful telling of a woman's fight to overcome anorexia and become the wife, daughter, sister, and person that Anna knows she is.
Highly recommended!
Told in a poetic style, this book tells of the main character Anna's struggle with anorexia and her time spent living at 17 Swann Street, a rehabilitation center for women with eating disorders. The book jumps from the past, when Anna is falling in love with her husband, to the onset of anorexia in the 3 years leading up to her time at 17 Swann Street, to the present where she is seeking treatment. The author does a great job of making you really feel what Anna is going through and what causes someone to end up with an eating disorder. Anna describes the other girls at 17 Swann Street and all of their stories are heartbreaking but important.
This book reads quick due to the poetic style it is told in. My only minor criticism would be that when jumping around in the timeline, it would often take me a few paragraphs to figure out where the setting of the new chapter was (past or present). Usually that's not too bad, but some of the chapters were only a page or two long.
Overall, this is a strong and powerful telling of a woman's fight to overcome anorexia and become the wife, daughter, sister, and person that Anna knows she is.
Highly recommended!