Anorexia is not Just for Teenagers

Anna is a ballerina, but she hasn’t danced since she injured her knee. She’s married to Matthias, a caring man who loves her. Anna is also anorexic. She’s twenty-six, not a teenager, but anorexia doesn’t respect age.

Anna is in a treatment center, 17 Swann Street, for women with anorexia and other eating disorders. Anna knows that she must conquer her problem, and she has Matthias' love to sustain her, but getting beyond anorexia, like any other mental illness, is not easy. Besides her husband, Anna has the friends she makes in the treatment center. All the women are struggling with eating disorders, but they are supportive of each other. It’s what helps bring them through.

This is not an easy novel to read. The author has done a good job getting into Anna’s mind showing how difficult it is to eat once you have built up a wall against food. The description of the treatment facility and the diets were realistic.

The other important part of the story is the role the men in her life, lover, father, husband, played in Anna’s disease and recovery. Anna was lucky. Although her lover was a man who made her ashamed of her body, she has a loving husband and father who support her and help her recover. I finished the book hoping her recovery lasts.

I received this book from St. Martin’s Press for this review.