After Anna, a ballet dancer from Paris, moves to Kansas with her husband Matthias, she develops an eating disorder that she can no longer keep hidden. Matthias has no choice other than to have Anna admitted to 17 Swann Street, a clinic for women where Anna can regain some much-needed weight and redevelop a healthy relationship with food. Anna makes friends with several other patients, but it is very difficult for her when one woman is taken away by ambulance, and another disappears after assaulting a staff member.

There are some indications that Anna has always had disordered eating, in her career choice and in her relationship with Philippe. Even with Matthias’ love and support, evidenced by his daily visits, and her phone conversations with her father, Anna still struggles. Unfortunately, I never felt as though I developed a connection with Anna or the other women. It seemed to me to read a little flat, and I didn’t like that Anna was encouraged to get better for Matthias and not for her own well-being. I’m also not a fan of the title, as all the women in treatment were adults, well past the girlhood stage.

For me, a good book is one that makes you think, stretches your understanding of a topic or just plain compelling and compulsively readable. The Girls at 17 Swann Street fit the bill on pretty much every account.

Anna is French. And she is just about everything you would associate with a French girl. She’s a ballerina, she’s graceful, she’s beautiful, and she’s extremely delicate and thin. Too thin. She suffers from anorexia and weighs 88 pounds.

Her husband, Matthias, is a dream. Handsome, outgoing and ambitious. She follows him to America and finds herself alone during the day, no longer a dancer and struggling to feel as if she is enough for her husband, and enough in this new life. Her insecurities lead to her anorexia.

The prose is subdued, poetic at times, so it’s not surprising that when I looked up the author, Yara Zgheid, I found a blog that contains essays that are both poignant and artistic at the same time.

While fiction, The Girls at 17 Swann Street reads like a memoir, and I wonder if the author has experience with this disorder. She tells Anna’s story in such a realistic way that it helped me reach a better understanding of what anorexia is. That it’s not a choice, but rather a crippling mental illness.

I’d recommend this book for anyone who enjoys memoirs (yes, it is fiction), anyone who is dealing with an eating disorder or mental illness, or anyone who loves someone who is dealing with such an affliction.

Special thanks to St. Martin’s Press and Netgalley for an e-galley in exchange for my honest review. This one is out February 5, 2019. Get your copy! This review will be published on my blog, Women in Trouble Book Blog, on January 6, 2019.

The Girls at 17 Swann Street is a remarkable story of Anna who deals with horrors, trama and fright and fight of anorexia and depression. She is a young woman married to her wonderful Mattiaha, they meet in Paris and move to America, she was once a ballerina and now works in a supermarket after an injury. The story takes her from pure happiness, bliss and wonder into a time of lonliness and angst. This story is sad, it's beautiful in it's telling and gripping at times. Ms. Zgheib's story of Anna is a glimpse into the dark reality of living with anorexia and the struggles and exhausting effort to pull yourself up and out. I definitely recommend. My thanks to #netgalley.com #St.MartinsPress #The Girlsat17SwannStreet

Thank you to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for an e-Arc of this novel in exchange for an honest review.

I truly enjoyed this book. While the topic was difficult, I feel like it was very well written and I enjoyed the format. It was a quick read and really gave a glimpse of what it is like in the world of an anorexic.

Recommend!

This arc was provided to me for free from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

3 Stars

TRIGGER WARNING
Includes eating disorders, mental illness, self-harm, and suicide.

Anna, a dancer from Paris has moved to the states with her husband for his career. There Anna struggles with anorexia until she is down to eighty-eight pounds. After passing out, Anna’s husband forcer her into a treatment center where she meets others women who are struggling as well. The women of Swann Street must fight their diseases and reclaim their lives all while supporting one another.

This was a heavy topic to read about and while I personally have never struggled with an eating disorder, I know a few who have. So this kind of hit home for me which is why I wanted to include the trigger warnings. Its tough to read books with a topic as tough as this but its also important that these topics are talked about. And I think Yara Zgheib did an excellent job.

But with Anna’s story, it was hard to watch her struggle and her recovery. But it’s worth the journey. It’s an emotional one, but well worth it. The lack of hope some of these characters had and then the ability to find hope once again was very inspiring.

While I did enjoy this story, I also had a difficult time with the writing style. It took some time to get used to it and even when I did, I still had some issues. And while I may not have personally enjoyed the writing style, it still is brilliant and beautifully written. If you don’t get triggered easily, then I do suggest you look into The Girls at 17 Swann Street, perhaps you can find it inspiring too.

Does Not Work as a Novel

This is the story of a young woman’s recounting of her descent into anorexia along with her treatment at a residential facility whose address bears the title name.
Anna Roux is a twenty-six year old ex-ballerina who hails from France and moves to the United States along with her new husband. She has suffered past trauma that has impacted her relationship with food, altering it in such a profound way that she is ultimately diagnosed with anorexia. Compounding factors may also include the stress of moving to a new country, away from her family, and having to contend with the loneliness of her husband’s long hours away at work.
From an educational standpoint regarding this disease, I would say that the book is worth the time. If you are either interested in the topic or are affected by it personally, it offers a unique personal perspective. I do not know a lot about the intricacies of the disease and the ways in which it can manifest in an individual so I appreciated the inside knowledge. It was also interesting to learn how treatment centers are run and the dire nature of potential fatality which is ever-present.
From a novel or storytelling standpoint, it did not work at all. It would have been better off being written as a diary or memoir. If you are simply looking for a decent novel to read, I would not recommend this book. I did wonder if it was originally written in another language and translated. The writing was choppy. The story abruptly changed time and place with no proper segue. The syntax was poor. Certain aspects of Anna and her husband’s relationship were painfully redundant. With so many books being published today by new and first time authors and the competition for reading time so fierce, it is frustrating when a book doesn’t meet basic criteria.
BRB Rating: Skip It.

Anna is a professional dancer from Paris who finds herself in the middle of Missouri after she follows the love of her life. Feeling out of control, alone, and depressed, Anna begins to spiral downward into the beast known as anorexia. In a state of desperation, she is admitted to 17 Swann St, a facility to help her find a path of self discovery and recovery. Anna and her fellow patients form a unique bond that can only be brought together by a fear of eating. With six other women, they battle the anxiety of eating six meals a day in order to reclaim their lives. Traveling on her journey to recovery, Anna learns about herself and the strength she can possess.

This book is heartbreaking, dark, and evokes multiple emotions of pain as well as strength. Anna's anorexia and her food anxiety is developed in such a vulnerable and real way, that the reader cannot help but feel every bit of pain Anna is feeling. Zgheib does a beautiful job creating characters suffering from every type of eating disorder, demonstrating the true struggles faced by those plagued with this disease. The juxtaposition between the beauty of their friendships and the pain of taking a bite of food is truly heart-wrenching. I highly recommend this book as an important read.

"Everyone around me thinks I have a problem. Everyone around me is scared. I do not have a problem. I just have to lose a little bit of weight. I am scared too, but not of gaining weight. I am terrified of life. Of a sad and unfair world. I do not suffer from a sick brain. I suffer from a sick heart."

After leaving Paris and moving to the US with her husband, 26 years old ex-ballerina Anna struggles to adjust to the new life. 17 Swann Street is a clinic treating girls with anorexia and bulimia. It is a place where Anna ends up when her weight drops to 88 pounds.

"I once had lips and breasts, but those shrank months ago. Along with my thighs, my liver, my behind."

The Girls at 17 Swann Street was a quick read, but not an easy one. Yara Zgheib portrays a very realistic picture of an eating disorder.

Following Anna on her difficult journey to recovery was very emotional for me. Unfortunately I have witnessed very closely what an eating disorder does to a person. My sister has always had a model like figure, very tall and slim. It only took one idiotic comment from her ex who said she was starting to look fat after she put on 3 kilos during summer holiday. She was 65kg at 182cm! After that, she stopped eating and rapidly turned into a skeleton. At 52kg she still believed she needed to lose more weight. My parents pleaded, begged, threatened, but nothing worked. When she ended up in the hospital, she finally promised to start eating. My mum was happy but that didn't last long. The eating disorder my sister was suffering from just changed its name. Anorexia turned into bulimia. It's been years now since this first started and my sister has never been completely cured of bulimia and she might never be, but at least she is not underweight anymore.

Books like The Girls at 17 Swann Street are important to raise awareness and understanding. I strongly recommend this book.

I voluntarily reviewed an Advance Reader Copy of this book. Thank you, NetGalley.

I didn't finish reading this book. I'm sorry I just couldn't get into it. I didn't care for the characters. Others seem to love this book. Maybe you will, too.

This is the first book I’ve read by this author and it won’t be my last. I was drawn right into the story and didn’t want to put the book down to even go to bed at night. The character development was amazing and I felt like I knew each of them personally. The topic is one that I’ve never experienced nor know anyone with anoxia. The way the author explains how one suffers from an eating disorder was very realistic. I highly recommended this book.

Disclaimer: I did receive this copy free from the publisher through netgalley.com. I was under no obligation to give a review and the thoughts I express are my own.

Wow! Yara Zgheib's debut novel The Girls at 17 Swann Street merely is heart-wrenching. I was fortunate enough to receive an advance copy via the publisher and NetGalley & I'm honored to have been selected to review this book. This book dives into the world of Ana and her eating disorder, the storyline, and characters are strong and effective in hitting you in the right in your feels. The Girls at 17 Swann Street is one of the books that grabs you, and you will want to finish it once you start. Zgheib's does a fantastic job of going through the motions and emotions of someone suffering from an eating disorder as well as how it affects those around them (family/friends).
I look forward to future writings by Ms. Zgheib, The Girls at 17 Swann Street sheds light on a topic most try to hide. A must read with tissues

Thank you for the opportunity to read this book. I was not able to connect with the characters and I felt no connection with Anna at all. The writing seemed very flat and while I understand that might be due to the heaviness of the story, it just didn't work for me.

I thought this book was going to be more about the dancer aspect of anorexia. However I did enjoy it. I think it did a good job of diving into a very difficult topic and explaining it in a way where the reader can truly feel the characters anxiety surrounding food.

I struggle to find the words to describe this book: heartbreaking could be one of them.

Such a powerful read! As a Mom with a pre-teen, this subject is something that I am thinking about already. The author did a wonderful job, and I loved all the explanations for the medical terms used throughout the book.

Thank you to NetGalley, publisher and author for providing a fre copy of this book.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5
Release Date: February 5, 2019
Publisher: @stmartinspress #netgalley #TheGirlsAt17SwannStreet

The Girls of 17 Swann Street takes a closer look and follows 26 year old Anna as she gets checked into an in-patient treatment center to battle her anorexia. Throughout the story, we learn more about Anna as well the other women in the treatment center. I have a really close friend who struggles with anorexia to be point of having to be checked into an outpatient treatment center. Everything she told me about the center lined up with what was told in the book. It really helped me understand and better empathize with her struggles.

Eating disorders and mental health are two things that aren’t often talked about in the media. As a society, it’s often easier to turn a blind eye than try to understand what someone is going though. This book did the opposite and that’s what I loved about it. This book didn’t try to make an eating disorder look glamorous. It also did not portray an eating disorder as something that can be treated and never thought of again. Eating disorders are an ongoing struggle and the author respected that.

I received a review copy of this ebook from St. Martin's Press and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for allowing me to review this ebook.

Thank you to netgalley.com for the ARC.

This book started out very slow for me and I felt that the plot moved along very slowly. As the book progressed, I definitely became more interested in the story line and invested in the characters.

The story is about one woman's struggle and recovery from anorexia. The book was clearly well researched and descriptive as to how horrible a disease it is and the realities of it. It was heartbreaking and poignant at times.

I'm glad I stayed with this story because in the end it was worth it.

The Girls of 17 Swann Street is a heartbreaking trip down the rabbit hole and into the life of anorexia. Anna Roux had been a ballerina with enough talent to dance professionally in Paris but not enough to be a solo dancer or prima ballerina. She falls for a male dancer who's continuous jabs about food, size and exercise start her down a slippery slope of calorie counting, banned foods and over exercising. When she injures her knee and can't dance for a while her place in the company is filled and the man she thinks she loves marries someone else. As she moves on with life the damage has already been done and she is living the nightmare of being an anorexic without realizing it.

After healing from the knee injury Anna meets Matthias and falls head over heals in love. They move in together, marry and when Matthias recieves a job offer in the U.S. Anna follows him on the journey. Lost in a strange country with no friends or purpose Anna is soon battling depression and a full blown case of anorexia that is threatening her life.

After recognizing just how sick she is Matthias convinces Anna to get treatment and her stay at 17 Swann Street begins. There the reader is introduced to the other residents and the battle required to overcome the debilitating disease of anorexia.

The storyline of the book is incredible. The reader is slowly pulled into the mind and thinking of someone who deals with this illness on a daily basis. It becomes clear it is a psychological disease rooted in feelings of inadequacy, depression and past tramas. Every girl at 17 Swann Street has her own story which you slowly become privy to. I never fully understood how deeply embedded the rituals and fears of eating are to an anorexic until I read this book.

The character development is very well done. You first get to know Anna and Matthias as a perfect happy couple. Eventually the reader realizes everything is not what it seems and never has been. The girls at 17 Swann Street are added into the mix and as the reader I got to know each and feel the pain of their disease as well as the pain that triggered it.

I really recommend reading this book. It's beautifully written and even while describing this devastating illness shows there is hope to overcome it. If you are a parent it will open your eyes so you can watch for signs of the onset of the disease. If you are a friend or spouse it will help you recognize behaviors that are abnormal and may require professional help. If you are just reading for pleasure it's an eye opening look at a very real disease that is little understood by the general public. The characters are all people you will care about, root for and hope to see overcome the huge struggle that is anorexia.

Truly enjoyed this book. I know many people who battled eating disorders and this tells the story extremely well. I thank Yara Zgheib for this enlightening book.

This is a very interesting book about an 88 pound anorexic adult, Anne Roux, and how she tries to overcome her disease . I learned a lot about eating disorders and residential treatments to help the victims. Anne is a very unhappy young woman who was a professional French ballet dancer and had to leave her beloved France to follow her husband to America.. Anne is haunted by her loneliness, sadness, insecurities and depression. She is admitted into the residential treatment facility at 17 Swann Street and we are introduced to the other girls at the center. I didn’t like the omission of quotation marks and the jumping back and forth of events in Anne’s life . It was a little confusing to follow when recaps of events were interjected in the narration. Anne tells this story in the first person narrative and we read about her struggles through her eyes.

When I first started this book, I wasn't sure what to expect. I wasn't even sure I liked the main character. But the more I learned about her and the events that led up to her arrival at 17 Swann Street, the more I became a cheerleader for her.

I loved the interactions between the main character and those around her, especially the other girls. When she began to run a parallel with Valerie (the notes) I was afraid she'd follow a similar path. I totally want to know more about Emm! Maybe a sequel in the future? (Fingers crossed!)

The book presents a potentially heartbreaking situation, answers the biggest questions, and leaves enough loose ends for the reader to imagine what comes next.