The Girls at 17 Swann Street - Review

The Girls at 17 Swann Street  🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟
by Yara Zgheib
Publishing Feb 5 2019 by St. Martin's Press

I do not cry over books.  I might tear up a bit, but seldom is there actual crying.  This book made me cry, multiple times.  

Anna was a ballet dancer, was living in Paris with her French husband, eating fine meals, drinking wine.  Ballerinas are pressured to stay thin, get even thinner, so eating habits had to change.  She also had lost some family members, tragically.  Anna did not choose to become anorexic; she did not consciously decide that 88 pounds was her ideal weight, or that fruit and popcorn  were her main food groups. It just happened as the disease aggressively and stubbornly took over her mind and body.

Now in Midwestern America, she goes for treatment at 17 Swann Street and so much happens in such a short time for her.  I was taken in by all the young women there and their daily struggles.  A very emotional  journey, for me at least.  

A quote from the preview copy I read:  "Only 33% of women with anorexia nervosa maintain full recovery after nine months . Of those, approximately one-third will relapse after the nine-month mark." 

Thank you to the publisher St. Martin's Press for offering me a copy through NetGalley. I will be recommending this one to all my reading friends.