*A BookMovement Group Read* **A People Pick for Best New Books** Yara Zgheib’s poetic and poignant debut novel is a haunting portrait of a young woman’s struggle with anorexia on an intimate journey to reclaim her life. The chocolate went first, then the cheese, the fries, the ice cream. The bread was more difficult, but if she could just lose a little more weight, perhaps she would make the … little more weight, perhaps she would make the soloists’ list. Perhaps if she were lighter, danced better, tried harder, she would be good enough. Perhaps if she just ran for one more mile, lost just one more pound.
Anna Roux was a professional dancer who followed the man of her dreams from Paris to Missouri. There, alone with her biggest fears – imperfection, failure, loneliness – she spirals down anorexia and depression till she weighs a mere eighty-eight pounds. Forced to seek treatment, she is admitted as a patient at 17 Swann Street, a peach pink house where pale, fragile women with life-threatening eating disorders live. Women like Emm, the veteran; quiet Valerie; Julia, always hungry. Together, they must fight their diseases and face six meals a day.
Every bite causes anxiety. Every flavor induces guilt. And every step Anna takes toward recovery will require strength, endurance, and the support of the girls at 17 Swann Street.
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” I am a child in a body that grew up too soon, found adulthood and real life a scam, and now is trying to lose enough weight to lift off the ground, fly away.”
It is a wonderfully written novel of a young woman who finds herself in a self-destructive situation that becomes a matter of life or death and how she fought to regain her life, her marriage and her family, one minute at a time.
Heartbreaking at times, yet friendship and love definitely prevail for Anna.
This is definitely not an easy read, but could be any woman with the pressures in today’s world.
It is an excellent book and well worth the time!
The Girls at 17 Swann Street by debut author Yara Zgheib is primarily about Anna Roux, a former dancer who has become ill due to anorexia. Anna trained as a ballerina but had fallen and loses her spot in the Paris Opera’s Corps de ballet.
Anna is 26 and has moved from her life in Paris to the United States with husband, Matthias. She is often left alone as Matthias is away for his job. Anna cannot find a position as a dancer in St Louis and she becomes depressed and decides the one thing she can control is what she chooses to eat. Anna also fills her time during the days with her routines of running and exercise.
I am very familiar with persons suffering from anorexia nervosa. If a family member or loved one wants to learn more about the thoughts, reasoning, and anxieties of a person with anorexia, then you need to read this book. If you are a person in the process of dealing with and recovering a normal healthy eating lifestyle, I would caution you NOT to read this book until you are secure in your stage of recovery. There is an arrogance in Anna’s attitude and thoughts in this story. Also, the ‘Direct Care’ team or personnel are depicted as being cruel. I know if a caregiver tried to force a full meal blended into a shake or liquid form to be ingested within a short time, that could cause extreme problems within a digestive system.
Some of the care Anna receives just did not make sense to me with the training I received years ago when I was a caregiver to an anorexic patient.
Publication Date: February 5, 2019
thank you St. Martin’s Press and Net Gallery for a digital copy of The Girls at 17 Swann Street by Yara Zgheib.
This is a very good read, not only is it a story but I learned a lot about anorexia. This is the first book I’ve read on the subject and gave me some insight into the life of someone with a eating disorder. Anna meets friends on 17 Swann Street and is learning to come out of her shell and deal with her disorder. I absolutely loved the romance between Anna and her husband. I recommend this book to anyone friends, family.
thanks again
As I was reading this story, I thought about a young woman who died from complications of an eating disorder called anorexia nervosa. She had everything to live for and was trying to take her life back. In 1983, singer Karen Carpenter’s death at the age of 32 brought visibility and awareness to anorexia nervosa. Those closest to her didn’t know how to help her. Today, we know a lot more about this disorder and there are many treatment centers available to those that need it. The Girls at 17 Swan Street provided a realistic look into this illness, mainly through the eyes of a twenty six year old, Anna, who initially resented being placed in the treatment center.
The author excelled at taking the reader into the thinking process of girls affected by this condition and bulimia. This process helped the reader to understand their inner battles, their suicide thoughts, and their distorted self images. The author also effectively examined family members’ guilt and struggles with understanding their loved ones’ eating disorder battles. They were outsiders looking in at an illness that was slowly killing those they loved.
This book is not an easy read, but it is an important one. I applaud the author for giving voice to these eating disorders and hopefully saving lives by doing so.
Highly Recommend!
For someone like me with little understanding of the disease of anorexia, this book was a real eye-opener. My attitude had been that these were spoiled little girls who wanted attention. After reading this book, I learned that this is a disease, not a choice and that recovery is very difficult and for some, impossible.
Anna is a ballerina from Paris who has moved to St. Louis with her husband Matthias for his job. She misses dancing, Paris and her family. As her husband works long hours and she is left on her own with no friends in a strange country, her anorexia begins to manifest itself. ‘The chocolate went first, then the cheese, the fries, the ice cream. The bread was more difficult, but if she could just lose a little more weight, perhaps she would make the soloists’ list. Perhaps if she were lighter, danced better, tried harder, she would be good enough. Perhaps if she just ran for one more mile, lost just one more pound.’ When Anna is down to 88 pounds and her body is beginning to break down, she agrees to go to a residential center for eating disorders. This book is about the struggle to get better when she wants to cling to her anorexic life and was about not only the physical part of the disease but also the mental part. It was difficult to read at times but the story itself was told quietly and beautifully.
My main problem with the book is that they kept repeating that Anna was going to get better for her husband. In reality, the only person you can get better for is yourself and I don’t think that was stressed enough in the book.
Overall this was a beautiful well written novel that taught me a lot. Thanks to Netgalley for a copy to read and review. All opinions are my own.