The Girls at 17 Swann Street was written by Yara Zgheib, a debut author. The book however does not read like a new author. It is very well written with a strong emotional impact. The characters are likable and the story brought their stories into the light. I liked how the author was able to weave in statistics about eating disorders to help educate her readers while embroiling them into a story with so many nuances.

Anorexia, an eating disorder is the crisis of Anna Roux. She has been living with the disorder for years as she slowly removes food from her daily menu, until she is living on apples and popcorn. The story of Anna’s life before Swann Street is revealed slowly in every other chapter. The other chapters are about Anna’s daily existence dealing with treatment for anorexia. As a ballet dancer, Anna was always working on staying in shape with cutting down her eating and over exercising...from here it is a slippery slope into 17 Swan Street.

While the novel is labeled a piece of fiction, it is clear that the author knows her information. I would encourage people to read this book. I had no intention of reading it in one day, but I did not want to put it down and devoured the book in one sitting. Yara Zgheib’s novel, The Girls at 17 Swann Street, is an excellent, poignant read.

Thank you St. Martin's Press and Netgalley for a copy of the eARC in exchange for a fair review.


First this book is not yet released, you can pre-order on Amazon or wherever you get books from. It will be released Feb 5, 2019.


Second I fully admit this would not be a book I would normally seek or pick out to read. Usually my book clubs get me out of my wheelhouse, but this time I was emailed with per-approval for the ARC. So I thought why not. I didn't bother to look at the synopsis or even glance at what it would be about.



Anna has just been admitted to 17 Swann Street, she has anorexia, recently she has started passing out as her weight has dropped to a dangerous level. She does not want to be there, but her husband has made her. All of her family is concerned about the weight loss since they moved to America. Anna isn't be honest about her eating or what has got her here.



As she begins to get to know the other women at 17 Swann Street, Anna has to start confronting her choices and begin considering does she actually want to recover or will this kill her. Along the way the friends she made will make their choices as well and some of those will profoundly affect her.



Normally I am vague because it is a mystery and too many clues will give things away, in this case this is a book you should read and immerse yourself in. It isn't a fun book, and it brought me to tears several times. This a deep dive into the head of a young woman who is anorexic and all of the little things that led her down a path that almost killed her. It is very heartbreaking and realistic. I read it all in one sitting. I couldn't put it down even though I didn't always like the writing style. It also strikes at the core of something all women can relate too whether they eat the way they should or if they are struggling with less than healthy choices. I related so much on her thoughts about body issues and it was worse for her as a dancer, because those thoughts were reinforced by people around her initially setting the groundwork for what was to come later.



Even if this isn't something you would normally read I think you should read it anyway!

The storyline deals with the serious subject anorexia. Anna is the protagonist and the story follows her journey through a treatment center. I felt the story was a bit slow and repetitive, however, it did hold my attention. The story is well written and gave insight into the struggles with mental disorders.

*I received this book for free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.*

As someone who has never struggled with an eating disorder, I wasn't sure what to expect going into this novel. I tend to veer toward the other end of the spectrum (where I eat way too much), so I was quite surprised when I found that I related to some of the main characters obsessions with food. I didn't expect that so much of a book about people struggling with anorexia would focus on food. But, after reading the story it makes a lot of sense. 

The main character, Anna, struggles with so much more than just food. She also struggles with maintaining her emotional state. I had no idea that anorexia can mess with how you handle stress, and that your mood can swing wildly from happy to angry to depressed. I also didn't know that it could cause so many systems of your body to shut down, including your hormones and your heart. She was also exhausted and cold most of the time, which I did not know was a side-effect of anorexia. Anna just could not see the problems she was facing. Throughout, she continually claimed that she only had a little problem with her weight and that she was just trying to be healthy. Her view of herself was completely skewed. 

Being placed in that mindset was heartbreaking and terrifying. There were also thoughts that were uncomfortably familiar to me, as a woman trying to conform to the ideals of society in regard to physical appearance. The fact that so many women feel so much pressure to look a certain way and so turn to these methods to reach that ideal is frustrating and, again, heartbreaking. 

Walking through this struggle with Anna was exhausting, but quite enlightening. It was a really hard book to read, but also an important one. I think it is good to be able to look at this disease from the perspective of someone actively working to overcome it. It helps you to feel empathy for them, and might give you the tools to potentially help someone in your own life, even yourself.

Anna was delirious with happiness when she married Matthias in Paris. When an injury halted her dancing profession, then Matthias was offered a job in Missouri, she followed him to the new country without regret. But with Matthias at work all day, and Anna alone with no friends and no work, her insecurities took hold. And gradually her desire to look and be perfect for Matthias saw her weight at just 88 pounds and her body slowly giving up.

When Matthias took her to 17 Swann Street, she had no idea what would be involved – after all, she wasn’t sick, was she…

Anna’s shock at the other young women who were patients was great. She had no idea that she was as bad as they were. Day in and day out – 6 meals a day; no getting out of eating – psychologists, nutritionists, counsellors – the two diseases which were in the house; anorexia and bulimia – were treated with kindness, firmness and determination. Anna gradually learned a little about the others – Valerie, Emm, Julia, Sarah – as they learned about her. They were there for each other – but what would be the outcome?

The Girls at 17 Swann Street by Yara Zgheib is a heart breaking, emotional look at a disease that strikes silently and swiftly, a disease that no one can beat without treatment, care and support. Told in Anna’s voice, the author has done an excellent job with the authenticity of her story. I felt for Matthias as his love for Anna stayed true; for Anna and her despair, along with the desperation of the other girls. The Girls at 17 Swann Street is a story that will stay with me for a long time, and it’s one I highly recommend.

With thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for my digital ARC to read in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you NetGalley, the publisher and author Yara Zgheib.
This is the story of Anna and her fight against anorexia, we go through Anna’s ups and downs.
We get to know her before anorexia, how she loved life and eating and, we see her struggling with the disease.
She is fighting so desperately for her husband, her family and ultimately herself. She wants her old life back.
I rooted so much for her to get well and win the battle.
This book was so well written and highly recommend.

This book is powerful.
Anna Roux was a ballet dancer who is injured and then follows her husband from Paris to St. Louis. Thrown amidst unfamiliar surroundings, loneliness, and feelings of no purpose, depression and anorexia get a hold of her. This is the story of how the disease snuck up on her and her journey through treatment at 17 Swann Street.
Anna and the other girls at Swann Street are written so beautifully and poignantly. As I was reading, I could envision them as real people with real struggles – food-oriented and otherwise. The way Anna relates to the other women in the house. The reflection into her past and attempt to rebuild relationships. Her relationship with Matthias is complicated and heartbreaking and hopeful.
Her struggles. Triumphs. Setbacks. I cried. I cheered. I felt.
I did get a little lost at times in conversations as far as who was speaking as there were no quotation marks or clear breaks at times. But the story and characters superseded any of those issues. It all seemed very well researched or experienced as well.
I think this is an important book for people to read to humanize the very real disease of eating disorders.

Trigger Warning: It goes without saying (I hope) but this book centers around anorexia, bulimia, and unhealthy food relationships.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC to review. All opinions are my own.

I found this book painful to read at times. Anna was east to become frustrated with. Although I realize until actually that Anna was suffering from mental illness at times I just wanted to scream "eat something . I enjoyed reading this book, it gave me great insight to anorexia and a long journey Anna had to face to just stay alive. Good characters, well developed , I would recommend this book to some of my friends and family. Thank you for my advance copy.

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 88 pounds. Her husband, Matthais finds her unconscious on the bathroom floor and she has been put in a residential treatment centre for people with eating disorders.

If your looking for a happy ever after story, this book is not for you. I shed a tear a few times while reading Anna's plight. Anna is anorexic and ends up getting treatment at 17, Swann Street where lots of other fragile young women are facing their daily demons. We Le the routines the girls have to go through on their road to recovery- adding their calorie intake, slowly, the rules for mealtimes and what happens if they don't follow them. A fantastic insight into eating disorders. I do recommend this book.

I would like to thank NetGalley, St. Martin's Press and the author Yara Zgheib for my ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Yara Zgheib’s novel of a young woman struggling with anorexia is not an easy book to read and it is not an easy book to review.

It was not easy to read because the pain of the women, they are all over eighteen and under forty, in treatment at a residential program at 17 Swann Street in St. Louis, Missouri is raw and bare and bleak. That is as it should be, with diseases like anorexia and bulimia. Your heart will break for Emm, for Valerie, for Sarah, for Julie, for Anna… for the unnamed characters and, maybe more importantly, for the real women and girls who struggle with eating disorders.


It was not easy to read and no book about the topic Yara Zgheib chose should be an easy read. I think the reader is supposed to be made uncomfortable, supposed to look at the snacks she eats so easily while reading with a different perspective, supposed to realize that there are things cannot be fully understood without experiencing them.

It was not an easy book to review because there are flaws in the story, things that left me wanting more, wanting better, and I don’t know quite know how to say that about a book with anorexia at it’s core.

But it is still a novel and novels are meant to be read and discussed so… Anna Roux is the focus of The Girls at 17 Swann Street. She was a ballerina in Paris who followed her husband, Matthias, to St. Louis for a job. And she got a job working at a supermarket, which is maybe ironic for someone struggling with anorexia. Anna, though, she’s not the most relatable woman in the story. Maybe because she isn’t developed quite enough? There are many, many, many flashbacks to a happier, more nutritional time of her life but they are very oddly scattered and placed, hardly being clear enough to explain present-day Anna before the story is pulled back to Anna at Swann Street. She seems sometimes to be defined by her anorexia, as a plot, when much of the dialogue centers on the idea that no one is their disease, no one is defined by their disease.

I wanted to read more about Emm, about Valerie and Sarah… about the ‘girls’ at 17 Swann Street, if you will. Anna finds out tidbits about why they all are there, but only tidbits. The other girls don’t exist very well without Anna. In away, I suppose, I feel like I was expecting an ensemble story, about the girls at 17 Swann Street, not just the one girl and her friends.

So my advice is this – don’t read this book if in-depth and often haunting descriptions of eating disorders and their affects are triggers for you but do read this book if you want to better understand a life lived with an eating disorder, don’t read this book if you’re looking for a well-developed ensemble story but do read this book if you want something fairly quick and focused on a single character.

A unique book for me. I have never read anything like this before. I do not know what I expected but I know I got a whole lot more! At times touching, heartbreaking, and redemptive, this story took me into the world of eating disorders and mental illness. While I don't know how this is handled in the "real" world. I found this book to be inspiring and well-written. The characters seemed realistic to me and I can honestly say that I enjoyed this glimpse into a world I was not familiar with. I received a copy from NetGalley and the publisher and this is my honest opinion.

The Girls at 17 Swann Street is Yara Zgheib's debut novel that portrays a poetic and poignant battle with mental illness and eating disorders. This book is beautifully written, with fascinating subject matter that certainly kept me engaged in the protagonist's journey in a residential treatment facility for women with eating disorders.

While I enjoyed this book, I felt that it very much glossed over anorexia nervosa and that the protagonist was not a realistic depiction of a person with the disease. It is very stereotypical for her to be a ballerina, and we were never given much insight into her earlier traumas. I also felt that her husband's constant support for her was unrealistic, and their relationship did not really change during her treatment. Anna's focus was very much on getting better for her husband, which did not entirely seem healthy to me. While the supporting case of characters were interesting, I found that they were not developed to their full potential. This is a work of fiction and very much a shiny one at that; I would have preferred a grittier picture.

Thank you to St. Martin's Press and Netgalley for an ARC in exchange for review.

This was not an easy book to read, but one that was so touching and tragic it pulled me in right away. I read the first half in one sitting and struggled to put it down. The format and style of writing might throw some people off, but for me it made it feel like I was inside the head of the main character feeling everything she was feeling. I will definitely be looking for more books by this author. Thank you to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for this ARC.

Slow going but it finished strong. The characters felt real and I wished well for them. The ending was not rushed which I appreciate. Overall, I liked it.

Thank you Netgalley.

Very well written debut. Heartbreaking, at times poetic, interesting characters. The story was captivating and refreshing.

Having never read a book by this author before. I started reading this book not knowing what to expect. The Girls at 17 Swann Street was thought provoking well written story. The story starts about a girl named Anna who has a eating disorder. She enters 17 Swann Street to get help. The storyline continues with Anna, the other girls in the house, their daily lives and issues trying to get well. I look forward to reading more by this author.

Warning: this may be triggering if you have suffered from an eating disorder. From the perspective of someone with anorexia, this is a story about a unique band of characters living at 17 Swann Street – a rehab facility for people with eating disorders. Having never personally suffered an eating disorder, I cannot speak to the realism or validity of emotions expressed. However, having a loved one close to me experience an eating disorder, it was very interesting to me to get inside the mind of someone with anorexia.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

Anna is a ballerina. She also has a little voice in her head telling her she is fat...anorexia. After losing a baby, Anna spirals out of control. During a stay at an eating disorder clinic, she must decide whether to fight or let her disease win. The Girls at 17 Swann Street was an eye opening look at all eating disorders but especially anorexia. Yara Zgheib has written a solid debut novel!

My Review of The Girls at 17 Swann Street by Yara Zgheib. #TheGirlsAt17swannStreet #NetGalley

A heart-wrenchingly beautiful book I could not put down. A powerful, eye-opening and intricate must read. Emotional, fierce and quite brave.
I read it in one sitting and sat quite stunned at how tragic and beautiful it was. Highly recommended for anyone that loves Women's fiction, Domestic/Psychological Fiction and beautiful writing.

Yara Zgheib did a great job of taking the reader into the world of eating disorders and inpatient recovery. The slippery slope that Anna slid down, removing one food group, controlling every bite and becoming obsessed with eating and food is hard to explain and understand from the outside and even harder to watch someone you love slide.

After ballet and a transatlantic move Anna needs to find control somewhere and she finds that in food and eating. Despite pleas from her loved ones Anna continues to sink farther and farther until she reaches rock bottom and finds herself among the ladies of 17 Swann Street. In this house she will find help and friendship, she will experience tough love and true love. Anna will discover she has a life worth living and that she is enough.

Thanks to NetGalley I received an advanced copy of this book, along with several other books creating an enormous “to be read” list!! I am not alone though and found a great group of ladies that I am reducing my NetGalley numbers along with. The Girls at 17 Swann Street was one that several of us needed to read so we read it together, which is always more fun. I knew it would be hard for me to read a book on this topic from personal struggles but I am in a great place and able to appreciate Anna and her fellow housemates. However, there were several times the tears flowed for Anna and her friends, for past me and for my friends that struggled. I cried a little because the struggle is never gone and over but the strength makes each day a little easier.

I’m not sure if it was the format of the galley that was hard to follow or if Anna being young and French created odd inner dialogue but there were moments I wished for a more straight forward format of dialogue. I was satisfied with the ending and found the introduction to characters and relationships was laid out well. I gave 5 stars on Goodreads, partly because it was a great book and partly because I have not connected with a book so deeply in a long time.