When I wasn't busy blogging about Charles Bukowski's birthday (shameless plug, I know), I happened to catch Jezebel's post on Harriet Brown's Brave Girl Eating: A Family's Struggle with Anorexia. Having come from a family where eating disorders were fairly common, Brown's argument for a family-based method of recovery really hits home. I appreciate the point she makes regarding our perception of eating disorders: the way we correlate them with extremes, whether it's stick-thinness or morbid obesity. Many victims do, in fact, suffer invisibly.
Do you want to know more about Brave Girl Eating? Browse inside the book, and check out these stellar pre-publication quotes:
“Harriet Brown’s Brave Girl Eating is an up close and personal account of one family’s struggle to help a child with anorexia nervosa. What sets this book apart is the author’s incorporation of clinical research findings from the field of eating disorders into the story of one family’s struggle. Ms. Brown’s tale of how her family was able to participate in her daughter’s recovery process is a compelling story of family strength and an inspiring story for all of us committed to treating individuals with eating disorders.”— Evelyn Attia, MD, Director, Center for Eating Disorders, Columbia University Medical Center, Weill Cornell Medical College
“As a woman who once knew the grip of a life-controlling eating disorder, I held my breath reading Harriet Brown’s story. As a mother of daughters, I wept for her. Then cheered.”— Joyce Maynard
“Brave Girl Eating is one of the most up to date, relevant and honest accounts of one family’s battle with the life threatening challenges of anorexia. Brown has masterfully woven science, history and heart throughout this compelling and tender story. Brave Girl Eating was fortunate to have one brave family.”— Lynn S. Grefe, Chief Executive Officer, National Eating Disorders Association
“Brave Girl Eating is a story that gets too close for comfort; it’s an honest account of the toll anorexia takes on the writer’s family and their tenacious, loving efforts to fight back. Harriet Brown is an intelligent, elegant writer and this book offers both solace and useful information for families struggling with eating disorders.”— Audrey Niffenegger
-Kayleigh