Review: The Girls at 17 Swann Street by Yara Zgheib

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 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.

Kindle Edition, 352 pages

Expected publication: February 5th 2019 by St. Martin's Press 

Genre: Fiction

Kristine's Thoughts:

** I received an advanced readers copy from St. Martin's Press in exchange for an honest review. Thank you!

The Girls at 17 Swann Street is about a woman living (barely) with anorexia. It is told from her perspective as she enters a treatment facility, a group home of sorts, for fragile women with life-threatening eating disorders.

First off, I read this book in a single day. It was very easy to read and even easier to get lost in. What I appreciated about this book was that it was told from Anna's perspective, the person living with the disease. It was interesting and confusing and heart wrenching to get inside her head as her struggles in dealing with the disease unfolded. The story was often a mixture of her wandering thoughts and her adjustment to 17 Swan Street. It presented itself in an almost chaotic way which really worked in telling the story. It kind of made me as the reader understand or feel the million different emotions that she was dealing with. I liked her interactions with the other women and getting to know them.

Although I really enjoyed this book and feel like it is an incredible debut novel for Yara Zgheib, I did feel like it was a little too neat. Yes, I know I said chaotic earlier and I stand by that. What I mean by neat is that Anna's story, although not easy by any sense of the imagination, wrapped up a little too neatly for my liking. Anorexia is a terrible, horrible disease that is extremely difficult to overcome. Anna had many ups and downs within the pages but she progressed a little quicker than I feel was realistic or normal. I was in Anna's corner so I was pleased that she was progressing however I'm not sure how realistic her progression in real life would be.

In the end, this book was an easy distraction from every day life that gave me a glimpse into a horrible and often deadly disease. A job well done.

About the Author

Yara Zgheib is a Fulbright scholar with a Masters degree in Security Studies from Georgetown University and a PhD in International Affairs in Diplomacy from Centre D'études Diplomatiques et Stratégiques in Paris. She is fluent in English, Arabic, French, and Spanish. Yara is a writer for several US and European magazines, including The Huffington Post, The Four Seasons Magazine, A Woman’s Paris, The Idea List, and Holiday Magazine. She writes on culture, art, travel, and philosophy on her blog, "Aristotle at Afternoon Tea"