I sadly can't say a lot about this book without giving too much away, so I'm gonna keep it quite short.
The Girls at 17 Swann Street's focus is on the thought process that goes on while the main character develops and tries to overcome an eating disorder. It's beautifully written, in a tone and pace that keeps one's attention throughout. It has well-developed characters that are easy to connect to, and it has an interesting storyline. With its theme being the psychology behind someone's eating disorder, it was a bit difficult to read, but at the same time, it's an incredibly moving book.
It's one of the future releases that you shouldn't miss.

Thank you to St. Martin’s Press who provided me an advance reader copy via NetGalley.

I don’t know if I can give this book justice, but I will try. THE GIRL’S AT 17 SWAN STREET by Yara Zgheib is a portrayal of disordered eating. It is told from the point of view of Anna, the main character, who suffers from depression, fears of failure, anorexia and her struggle of recovery. I felt as if Anna was talking to me; telling me her story.

I am a psychologist on the staff of the Student Health Center Department of Psychiatry at a private university. I am also an adjunct professor. One of my specialities is working with patients who suffer from eating disorders. From all of my research, training and treatment of patients with eating disorders, I know first hand how difficult it is for individuals to heal psychologically and emotionally from this condition. This novel is a breathtakingly beautiful novel that opens your eyes to the demons of eating disorders and mental illness.

I highly recommend this novel. It will be required reading for my students when it is released.

Anna was once a professional ballet dancer in Paris. When she meets Matthias, it is love at first sight. So she marries him and moves to the States. Hoping to recover from an injury that left her unable to dance as she once had.

Anna has had a lot of heartbreak in her life. Nothing she shares. No, she punishes her body. At 88 pounds she believes she is hideous, and as she begins to fade away, her husband brings her to a home for young women with eating disorders.

Anna chafes against the rules and schedules and doesn't really share much with her team. She tells herself she is a failure, imperfect and lies to herself about how lonely she really is.

There are many girls at 17 Swan Street. All struggling just to stay alive. Some can't eat and some can't stop eating. But with the help of these struggling young ladies, Anna may have the best chance of beating this and returning to being Anna because she has Matthias, someone who wants her to be well and happy.

This was a beautifully written novel. It was unbearably sad and torturous watching these young women try so hard and when one can't go on, my heart broke for them all.



Well Done!

Netgalley/February 5th 2019 by St. Martin's Press

"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."

THIS. So hard to process. As a person who LOVES food, this is hard for me to comprehend. But as a woman. It's easy for me to understand. The entire book made me feel uncomfortable.

Anna used to be a dancer. She used to live in France. She used to eat things other than apples and popcorn. We meet her in America, where she is no longer a dancer, she is married, and she is very, very sick. In the middle of hot August summers, she shivers. Her husbands touch makes her flinch because it hurts so much. She passes out, often. It's haunting reading the things that go in her head. It's heartbreaking, and raw and obsessive. It made me anxious just reading what goes on in Anna's head.

You read about how a lot of illnesses are invisible. Like mental illness - you never know if someone is suffering. With Anorexia, it's a little more visible, the sunken eyes, the sharp, pointed angles of bones protruding from shoulders and hips, the brittle hair and damaged teeth.... but to know how this illness plays in ones mind is harrowing. I was shocked. I had no idea.

Anna's husband knows how frail and sick she has become and he faults himself for letting it get so bad. He brings her to 17 Swann Street, to get help - it's a home for women with eating disorders. Mostly Anorexia like Anna. We follow her journey, her struggles and pain and denial, trying (and not trying) to get better. We learn her history, how just a few years ago she was eating pizza, and ice cream, and loving every minute. The downward spiral she takes is heartbreaking.

I LOVED the writing style, almost like a script. It's peppered with intake notes about her health, history, and "progress", and the paragraphs are short - but easy to follow. It's a hard one to read, but it's even harder to put down.

I loved this book. I usually do not read this genre, but I am so glad I did. The emotions and insights of anorexia were very prominent. I loved the connections the girls at 17 Swann Street had. The description of the struggle with food was interesting. It shows how a support system is more important than any of us truly realize.

I've read other books with characters who have anorexia, but none were quite as moving as The Girls at 17 Swann Street. The lyrical writing of Yara Zgheib made the book hard to put down. The story is told from the POV of a twenty six year old woman, Anna Roux, as she enters a residential treatment center for eating disorders. It is a heartbreaking story, but full of hope. Through Anna we see other girls at 17 Swann Street and learn how their relationship to food controls their lives. The reader learns about Anna's past in small glimpses of memories. It's a painful story, but one that sticks with you after you're done.

When Anna arrives at 17 Swann Street, she doesn't see her 88-pound weight as a problem, or the fact that she is always cold, tired, and feels old beyond her years. At times, barely able to walk, Anna knows her enemy and it is food, not her failing body. Anna's internal voice has its own name, anorexia, and it will do whatever is necessary to win.
Anna remembers before when she was a ballet dancer when an injury stole her career when she loved her family, her husband, and her life. But those things happened before this disease pushed everything aside in its quest to control Anna and make her thin. The thought of eating more than a slice of apple and some popcorn makes Anna ill, but the staff at 17 Swann Street know that only calories( and therapy) can save Anna's life.
For someone like Anna, eating 3 meals a day and 2 snacks is paralyzing. A nutritionist oversees every patient's meal plan and failure to finish every bite in the allotted time will result in the insertion of a feeding tube. It is painful to witness Anna's struggles and unbearably sad to know that no matter what the staff does, no matter how much her husband loves her, no matter how this disease is breaking her father's heart, it still might win.
This was not an easy read, but I couldn't put it down. The story was just too compelling and beautifully written. The author wrote about an illness that can become your master and literally kill you.
I had a hard time rating this book, not because it wasn't heartbreaking, and not because it didn't feel real, but because the timeline seemed just a bit rushed. I didn't think someone who had spent years avoiding food, could so quickly start eating so much food from Day 1. I realize this is fiction, but it just seemed that someone with such a severe illness wouldn't be capable of doing what the staff wanted without much more of a fight( or more time getting inpatient treatment).

I received a DRC from St. Martin's Press through NetGalley.

Anna's story is heartbreaking. The Girls at 17 Swan are all suffering from anorexia or bulimia. As I have always from these diseases to be interesting, I was excited to read this book. I have to say while I read about and even giving speeches on these diseases, I never really thought about the impact it has on the individual and their loved ones. This book gave you a deep dark in-depth look at what it looks like to try to "recover". Anna is the main focus, but you find yourself hoping all the girls find their way to recovery. I can't say enough about how honest and touching this book was. I highly recommend it to everyone. I think if you know someone suffering it may give you a deeper look from their side.


I received an ARC from NetGalley and St. Martin's Press in exchange for an honest review.

The Girls on 17 Swann is a beautiful, well written glimpse into the mind and life of a young woman struggling to overcome a debilitating disease known as anorexia. The story follows her through her daily struggles while living in a residential treatment center for anorexia. With her own demons to fight and outside pressures at times she feels as if it is too much. This is a very caring book that will grab your heart and you will be rooting for her and the other girls at 17 Swann!

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for giving me this arc for the privilege of writing my honest review.
This is definitely my honest feeling about this book...lovely.

Anna was a dancer. She wanted the soloist’s part but wasn’t good enough. She thought that, maybe, if she lost more weight, she could succeed. Eventually, however, she was down to 88 pounds. Anna could no longer eat anything but apples and popcorn. Her fear of food and gaining weight had become so overwhelming! But if she did not stop this behavior, she would die. She found she was endangering her own life. She was checked into the pink house at 17 Swann Street, a house for women with eating disorders. Together, they fight to save their lives.
This is a frank and moving account of an anorexic’s fight to eat, again, in order to save her own life. It is well-written and worth reading.

I was given a free copy of this book in exchange for an unbiased review.

A look into the life of an anorexic girl. I don't think it's really my cup of tea. It's not a bad book over all but I didn't care much for it.

This book is an inside look at the life of an anorexic and it was truly eye-opening. I knew that anorexia is a disease but never did I realize how it can completely take over every waking second of a person's life.. Through the eyes of Anna, the reader witnesses her struggles with food even though she knows that she is killing herself and could possibly lose her husband. She literally has little to no control over the disease that is ravaging her body. I loved this book from beginning to end and found myself routing for all of the characters, especially Anna. I found myself loving Anna's husband, Matthias and wondered what would happen to Anna if it weren't for him. A knight in shining armor, he is! When the book ended, I wanted to keep on reading. The struggle doesn't end at the end of the book. Thank you to Netgalley for an ARC in return for my honest review.

This book wasn’t bad. It was good. But it was a major trigger for me, personally and I had difficulty reading it. Maybe that is evidence of the book’s value.
I was received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This was a beautifully written book. Trigger warning if you suffer from eating disorders or body dysmorphia. This was a hard read because I know so many people go through these struggles but it was such a good read too that I read it in two days. I highly recommend reading this one.

Interesting book highlighting a topic not usually touched upon in novels. I found the interaction between the characters moving.

An inside look to the life of a compulsive anorexic shows the struggle she faced everyday to succeed for both herself and others

Anna was a ballet dancer. A relationship had undermined her confidence about her body & an injury stopped her dancing. Soon she began a battle with food. Gradually she cut out almost everything apart from apples & plain popcorn. When she moved from France to America with her adoring husband his new job meant she could hide her eating habits until it became clear that something had to be done before they killed her. She was admitted to 17 Swann St- a residential unit for eating disorders. Whilst hating the regime she found strength & support from the other girls there.

This is a beautifully written book that brings the horror & hopelessness of eating disorders into sharp relief. Whilst struggling to understand Anna's mindset I could certainly appreciate the battle she had to try and bring herself back from the edge

Thanks to Netgalley & the publisher for letting me read & review this book. It is one that will stay with me for a long time.

The Girls at 17 Swann Street are battling eating disorders and this book doesn't sugarcoat the treatments and offers a realistic portrayal of how people think and feel. Yara Zghieb invokes plenty of emotion in the writing of this novel and her various characters show us the many layers and complexities of living with an eating disorder.

A quiet, moving story about a woman battling both anorexia and the memories of her life before the disease took hold of her, at a residential facility for eating disorders. Outside its walls are her loving husband and father, praying and pleading for her survival. Inside are the other girls who fight alongside her through each snack, each meal, each calorie. A glimpse into a terrifying world where many don't emerge, and the ones who do have only a slim chance of long-term, relapse-free health, rendered still with hope that the girls here will be among the survivors.

A stunning, emotional, inspirational, and insightful story into the lives of women suffering from an eating disorder. I opened this book late in the afternoon with the intention of reading a couple of chapters before starting dinner . . . and never looked up again until finishing it a few hours later. It's everything I could ask for in a story and more.

The Girls at 17 Swann Street is beautifully written and delivered via the intimate first-person pov of Anna, a twenty-six year old woman/wife/former dancer who is entering residential care for anorexia at 17 Swann Street. A woman who once laughed, loved, and dared to dream big. A woman who loved ice cream and strawberries and the idea of making babies with her husband. A 5' 4" tall woman now weighing in at only 88 pounds with a 15.1 BMI who can no longer bear to be touched. A woman whose body is literally starving to death because the thought of eating food makes her physically sick. How did this happen to her?

Through Anna's eyes, readers learn about day-to-day life inside the eating-disorder treatment center . . . the rules, eating plans, appointments with doctors, weekly rituals . . . the despair, the hopelessness, the struggle to face one more day . . . and one more meal. Anna's thoughts alternate between past and present allowing readers to walk in her shoes prior, during, and after treatment. While Anna's the driving force behind this story, the other girls receiving treatment play key support roles, welcoming her into their sisterhood while helping to acclimate her to "the rules". I'll go ahead and say now that I wiped tears more than once before finishing this story.

A powerful, mesmerizing story, The Girls At 17th Swann Street opened my eyes to this deadly disease and the paralyzing fear it holds over victims - taunting them with hopes of recovery and then jerking it and dreams of reclaiming their former life away. Sadly, the success and recovery rate are not great. The disease has devastating effects on victims and their loved ones - often ripping families apart as they struggle to understand "why" while watching the downward spiral of their afflicted loved one. I loved this book and all the girls living at 17 Swann Street. For a few hours, through Zgheib's lyrical writing, I became one of the girls living in the peachy-pink colored house at 17 Swann Street. I felt their pain, frustration, confusion, and hopelessness. I prayed with and for them and dared dream of a brighter future for each of them.

The Girls at 17th Swann Street is a beautiful, heart-felt read that will go on my Favorites Shelf. This book is brilliantly written - an intimate, heart-touching, and thought-provoking story of a woman's mission to reclaim her life by defeating a disease suffered by women of many ages. But more than that, it's a story and journey I promise will touch and possibly change you. I know it did me. You don't want to miss this one. I look forward to more from this talented author. A Must Read!