The Girls at 17 Swann Street Review

Title:  The Girls At 17 Swann Street
Author:  Yara Zgheib
Publisher:  St. Martin's Press
Release Date:  Feb. 5, 2019 (USA)
Purchase Link:  Amazon

My Rating:  5 Intimate Hearts


*Many thanks to St. Martin's Press for an arc of this book.




Synopsis:

My name is Anna.

I am a dancer, a constant daydreamer.

I like sparkling wine in the late afternoon, ripe and juicy strawberries in June.

I believe in the rich taste of real vanilla ice cream, melting stickily from a cone...

I am madly in love, I am madly in loved.

I believe in living life with purpose, but in floating through the day too.

I have books to read, places to see, babies to make, birthday cakes to taste. I even have unused birthday wishes to spare.

So what am I doing here?

Review:

A stunning, emotional, inspirational, and insightful story into the lives of women suffering from an eating disorder.  I opened this book late in the afternoon with the intention of reading a couple of chapters before starting dinner . . . and never looked up again until finishing it a few hours later.  It's everything I could ask for in a story and more.

The Girls at 17 Swann Street is beautifully written and delivered via the intimate first-person pov of Anna, a twenty-six year old woman/wife/former dancer who is entering residential care for anorexia at 17 Swann Street.  A woman who once laughed, loved, and dared to dream big.  A woman who loved ice cream and strawberries and the idea of making babies with her husband.  A 5' 4" tall woman now weighing in at only 88 pounds with a 15.1 BMI who can no longer bear to be touched.  A woman whose body is literally starving to death because the thought of eating food makes her physically sick.  How did this happen to her?

Through Anna's eyes, readers learn about day-to-day life inside the eating-disorder treatment center . . . the rules, eating plans, appointments with doctors, weekly rituals . . . the despair, the hopelessness, the struggle to face one more day  . . . and one more meal.  Anna's thoughts alternate between past and present allowing readers to walk in her shoes prior, during, and after treatment.  While Anna's the driving force behind this story, the other girls receiving treatment play key support roles, welcoming her into their sisterhood while helping to acclimate her to "the rules".  I'll go ahead and say now that I wiped tears more than once before finishing this story.

A powerful, mesmerizing story, The Girls At 17th Swann Street opened my eyes to this deadly disease and the paralyzing fear it holds over victims - taunting them with hopes of recovery and then jerking it and dreams of  reclaiming their former life away. Sadly, the success and recovery rate are not great.  The disease has devastating effects on victims and their loved ones - often ripping families apart as they struggle to understand "why" while watching the downward spiral of their afflicted loved one.  I loved this book and all the girls living at 17 Swann Street.  For a few hours, through Zgheib's lyrical writing, I became one of the girls living in the peachy-pink colored house at 17 Swann Street.  I felt their pain, frustration, confusion, and hopelessness.  I prayed with and for them and dared dream of a brighter future for each of them.  

The Girls at 17th Swann Street is a beautiful, heart-felt read that will go on my Favorites Shelf.  This book is brilliantly written - an intimate, heart-touching, and thought-provoking story of a woman's mission to reclaim her life by defeating a disease suffered by women of many ages. But more than that, it's a story and journey I promise will touch and possibly change you. I know it did me.  You don't want to miss this one.  I look forward to more from this talented author. A Must Read!

My Rating:  5 Intimate Hearts . . . and that's the truth!

Cross My Heart . . . xxx

Sandra