Wow! So good! This is a debut novel and I really want to read more from this fantastic author.

I rarely get to read a book in one day any longer...but I could not put this one down.

The write up on this says : (and I can't add anything better)

"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." (Amazon blurb)

I loved Anna and my heart ached for her and her struggles. It is very hard to understand how this can happen to someone. The sensitivity given to her character and the other girls is very well done. You will root for her and husband all throughout the book. You will pray she makes it to the end.

"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." (Amazon blurb).

A few quotes I high-lighted :
“ this must be someone’s idea of a joke. I see no humor in it. I had not wanted to be difficult last night, when yogurt had been served at dinner, but my file clearly states that I am a vegan. Something must be said. There must be a mistake. I do not eat dairy.”
“ You will eat whatever the nutritionist has set. “

“ Number one know yourself. I know that salad seems the safer choice, but if you aren’t willing to down a gallon of mayonnaise it eat every bit of cheese, then stick to the french fries. I hesitate. And circle the fries.”

UGH! What a very difficult situation. This is an important book. It brings to light the plight of these young women and also how they are treated.
The author uses great compassion and understanding in such a painful situation. I am very thankful to NetGalley and the publisher, St. Martins Press for a digital copy to read for review. I highly recommend this!

Anna was a professional dancer in Paris. She meets the man of her dreams, Matthias and moves to Missouri. Anna suffers from anorexia and depression and finds herself only weighing 88 lbs.
Matthias finds her unconscious on the bathroom floor one day and decides to put her in a treatment facility for eating disorders. The name of the facility is 17 Swnn Street. Anna faces many demons while she is there and does not open up to anyone. This book helps you to see the daily struggle of eating disorders. It is very sad as to what these girls go through! I would recommend this book to all.

Thanks to Net Galley and St Martin’s Press for an ARC of this book in exchange for a review.
Once you start reading this book you are hooked and it’s hard to put down.
Anna a professional ballerina has anorexia nervosa. She has been married for 3 years to her great love Matthias. It’s an emotional story of Anna’s battle with her illness., and how it has overtaken her life both mentally and physically. She checks herself into 17 Swann Street, a residential home for woman with eating disorders, every meal is monitored, calorie loaded and most be eaten, it’s torture putting each small bite of food in her mouth and it’s with the support of the other girls that mealtimes are survived. The regime of each day is repetitive but Anna has the support of her husband Matthias as he arrives each evening at 7.30 for their shared time of 90 minutes.
This story is so many things, it’s sad, girls have died, it’s a battle of the mind, there is the strong love between Anna and her husband and there is hope.
This book took me totally by surprise - a very compelling read. 5 stars

Rather than gently lead you through Anna’s descent into anorexia and eventual treatment, the book immediately thrusts the reader into the result of it: the drastic weight loss has already happened, and Anna is a resident of 17 Swann Street. Frequently given, oftentimes non-linear, flashbacks help the reader discover how she came to be there. Sometimes the lack of consistent chronology annoys me, but it worked well in this book, however. I appreciated the way it caused Anna’s backstory to slowly reveal itself, and how those revelations often changed my perception of Anna.

This is, without a doubt, the most heart-wrenching book I have read (so far) this year. Anna broke my heart over and over again. Seeing her fears about food, the way she rationalized eating one thing versus another (or not eating something at all), gave me just the teeny-tiniest bit of understanding of how devastating this eating disorder can be for someone who has it.

This novel continuously made me feel as if I were reading about an actual person, rather than a fictional character. I know this was a novel, and yet… I can’t let go of Anna. It’s not unusual for me to become attached to characters, but I worried over her for so long that I’m finding it difficult to stop doing so just because I’ve finished reading the book. Is she okay? Did she relapse? What about the other women at 17 Swann Street? Fictional characters or not, my heart wants them all to be okay.

Do give this beautiful novel a try… and I think you’ll easily understand why I’m finding it so hard to let go of Anna Roux.

I received an advance reading copy of this book courtesy of St. Martin’s Press via Netgalley.

I knew going into reading “ The Girls at 17 Swann Street” that I was headed for an emotional read but I didn’t know just how much I would be affected. This is from the synopsis:
“ 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.”
Sigh. Words cannot do it justice. This book was sad, beautiful, encouraging, fill in the blank______. Once I got started, it was hard to put down. While I have never struggled with anorexia, this is a story that needed to be told and people needed to hear. It was super emotional and beautifully written. Words just cannot!

* I received a copy of this book from NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.*

This book isn't just a satisfying read, it's an experience. Zgheib melds the free flow of stream of consciousness with a grounded story structure. With a story centered on a woman being treated for anorexia, the combination of these seemingly opposing approaches makes sense. Anorexia is nothing if not controlled structure, yet the disease itself lets loose in the patient's psyche. Zgheib takes us into main character Anna's mind as she battles, succumbs, and dreams under the haze of food deprivation and an eating disorder clinic's attempts to heal her. Written in short bursts, in and out of Anna's mind, this is a swift read, fully engaging.

From my blog: Always With a Book:

This was quite possibly one of the most stunning debuts I've read in a while. It's raw, it's emotional, and it's a tough read at times, yet it's also hopeful.

This book takes a hard look at mental illness, focusing on eating disorders. As is so clearly depicted in this book, it's not always a choice someone makes - to have an eating disorder is not always a conscious decision. This book will bring you up close and personal to this and make you appreciate the struggles that those dealing with any type of eating disorder go through.

I think what makes this book stand out so much is the writing. It is brutal and honest about the topic at hand, yet delivered in such a lyrical way. You cannot help but be pulled into this book. I loved how the story was structured - going back and forth in time, where in the present we see Anna at 17 Swann Street and then in the past, where we learn what happened to lead up to her having to be sent there. There are also clinic intake forms, treatment plans and meals plans interspersed throughout the book and this really hits home after you get into the story a bit at just how severe this issue is.

This is the type of book that you know you will think about long after you finish it. It's an emotionally heartbreaking story, yet it is also one that is heartwarming and filled with hope. It's hard not to get choked up a time or two, but there is some lightheartedness there, too. I am so excited for this writer - as a debut novel, this one is just brilliant and I definitely look forward to seeing what comes next from her.

The Girls At 17 Swann Street has tears running down my face by page four. The struggle is real and this book will hit home for women with eating disorders. It’s an honest peek into a world that many don’t even know exist. It broke my heart and put it back together all at once.

A solid emotional read of one woman’s journey- and the people she meets along the way. I enjoyed this book - it was an emotional slap in the face as the subject to many is taboo. Eye opener for sure.

Sad but a must read - and so relevant!

This book needs to be one everyone's reading list - it has excellent insight into life-threatening eating disorders; the causes, the consequences and the help that is out there. Sometimes one has to try many different programs to achieve success,all the while knowing that success can be fleeting. One really has to work hard to overcome an eating disorder. A wonderful, thought provoking read. . Well-done Yara Zgheib!.

The Girls at 17 Swan Street is an amazing read and should be read by everyone, those going through similar situations with eating disorders so that they can finally see themselves in a story and feel seen, and those who don't suffer from eating disorders. I think the story would be especially helpful to the family members of eating disorder sufferers so that they can actually see what it's like to feel like you have to force yourself to eat every bite to make others happy and to look in the mirror everyday and no matter how thin you are still feel fat. 

Yara did a fantastic job telling this story. It had me thoroughly invested from the moment I began to read up until the final page. I loved the different emotions that the story invokes by showing you different parts of the women's lives. I rooted for everyone in this story and would love to read a follow up to find out if any of the women beat the disorders and to see what their lives would be like after treatment and returning home. 

I reviewed this story on my blog Authentically Adrien.

was a gripping thriller that took you to every aspect of trying to figure out what was really going on and what was going to happen next! This was such an amazing book and I can’t wait to see what else is released from this author!

A disturbingly relatable story of one woman's struggle with anorexia and the fellow sufferers she meets at a recovery facility. Anna is a complex character, flawed but likable and her struggles with self-control paint the best picture of anorexia I've ever encountered. Somehow, Yara Zgheib writes about food in a way that makes even the most enthusiastic of eaters (that would be me) come close to an understanding of how it might feel to see food as a threat.

I received this book in exchange for an honest review. I kept putting off reading the book because I wasn’t sure about the topic. Did I really want to read a depressing book about eating disorders? Was I ever wrong! This is a beautifully written book (don’t think I ever used those words before) about women in a treatment facility for eating disorders. The book mainly concentrates on Anna’s story. You will learn about eating disorders in this book but you will also learn Anna’s story, how she struggles with the disease, how she got to this point and her recovery process. The book is a very easy and quick read.

<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/39324901-the-girls-at-17-swann-street" style="float: left; padding-right: 20px"><img border="0" alt="The Girls at 17 Swann Street" src="https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1534261006m/39324901.jpg" /></a><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/39324901-the-girls-at-17-swann-street">The Girls at 17 Swann Street</a> by <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6491320.Yara_Zgheib">Yara Zgheib</a><br/>
My rating: <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2710174101">5 of 5 stars</a><br /><br />
I received this book in exchange for an honest review. I kept putting off reading the book because I wasn’t sure about the topic. Did I really want to read a depressing book about eating disorders? Was I ever wrong! This is a beautifully written book (don’t think I ever used those words before) about women in a treatment facility for eating disorders. The book mainly concentrates on Anna’s story. You will learn about eating disorders in this book but you will also learn Anna’s story, how she struggles with the disease, how she got to this point and her recovery process. The book is a very easy and quick read.
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<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/list/40193543-cindy-murphy">View all my reviews</a>

I have moved into Bedroom 5, 17 Swann Street. My name is Anna, I am a dancer, a constant day-dreamer. I like sparkling wine in the later afternoon, ripe and juicy strawberries in June. Quiet mornings make me happy, dusk makes me blue. I like gray and foggy cities. I see purple in gray and foggy days. I believe in the rich taste of real vanilla ice cream, melting stickily from a cone. I believe in love. I am madly in love, I am madly loved. I have books to read, places to see, babies to make, birthday cakes to taste. I even have unused birthday wishes to spare. So what am I doing? I am twenty-six years old. My body feels like sixty-two. So does my brain. Both are tired, irritable, in pain. My hair was once wild-lion thick, morning blond. It is now a nondescript, mousy beige that falls in wisps around my face and out in my hands. My eyes, green like my mothers, are sunk so deep in their sockets that no makeup will fill the craters. I do have lovely eyelashes. I always liked those. They curl up at the edges like those of a doll I used to own. My collarbones, ribs, kneecaps, and streamer-like thin blue veins peek through paper-thin skin. My skin largest organ of my body and its first line of defense, has been more decorative than functional lately. In fact, not even that; it is cracked and taught, constantly bruised and cold. Today it smells of baby oil. For the occasion, I used lavender. I have a flat stomach. I once had lips and breasts but those shrank months ago. Along with my thighs , my liver, my behind. I lost my sense of humor too. I do not laugh very often anymore. Very little is funny. When I do, it sounds different. So does my voice on the telephone. Apparently. Not that I can tell the difference: I do not have many people to call. I realize that my phone is not with me, then remember, they took it away. I am allowed to have it until 10 a.m. and after dinner in the evenings. Once of the many house rules I will have to learn while I am living here, however long that will be. How long will that be? I turn away from the thought...and hit a tidal wave of panic. I do not recognize the girl, or the reality I just described.

Anna a dancer, a wife, a sister and daughter suffers from an eating disorder that is slowly killing her. The narration is done in her voice as she is dealing with acknowledging her disease and how she battles the voices within. She now lives at 17 Swann Street where her loving husband has brought her knowing that she will die if she is unable to conquer her demons.

The demons of loss has set her on the road to self-destruction with food and how she sees herself. Along with the other women at 17 Swann Street, each of them fight for a victory minute by minute, day by day.

The narration uses both hope and hopeless to describe this mental illness. The hope that Anna has with her husband and her father is endearing. It is a connection that keeps Anna focused on recovery. Never easy but hope never is. The hopelessness that others have when all connection is lost becomes the difference between life and death.

Anna's words will leave any reader impacted to the ills of mental illness. It is filled with reality and hope. I was completely taken.

A Special Thank you to St. Martin's Press and Netgalley for the ARC and the opportunity to post an honest review.

Anna Roux's story broke my heart.

Years ago, a very good friend of mine went through this battle and was hospitalized. While reading this brought back some of those memories, it also made me understand what I didn't understand back then. Thirty-plus years later, we are still good friends and she's had a healthy recovery.


At times, this story was hard to read, but at the same time, I couldn't put it down. I rooted for Anna and the rest of the girls at 17 Swann Street. I wanted them to fight their inner-demons and be able to live a happy, abundant life that wasn't centered around food-compulsion.


Yara Zgheib told an important story in a beautiful way.

I have tackled this novel several times over the last months, and found it tough going. I could not find the protagonists sympathetic - simple as that. It was interesting to see what those with eating disorders have to go through to find help, and add to my knowledge of what the term entails, but finishing The Girls at 17 Swann Street was heavy weather.

I received a free electronic copy of this novel from Netgalley, Yara Zgheib, and St. Martin's Press in exchange for an honest review. Thank you all for sharing your hard work with me.

Wow, what a sad but incitingly informal book. I didn’t know what to expect when I first started the Girls at 17 Swan Street, but I truly enjoyed it and the writing was excellent!

I don’t know anyone who has an eating disorder, thankfully, but this book made me feel like I did with Anna. I just wanted to hug her and all the girls at 17 Swan Street. So heartbreaking to read how hard it is for someone to eat or look at thmeselves in the mirror and see a completely different imagine than what stares back at them.

I believe that Anna was one of th lucky survivors. She had Mattias beside her when many others don’t have that type of support. I was happy with the ending of the book and look forward to any future books by Yara.

Thank you to Netgalley and St. Martins Press for gifting me an E-ARC in exchange of an honest review. All opinions are my own.

I rate this book a 4 out of 5 Stars.

This book was so raw, and emotional, I could not put it down. It was amazing insight to what it would be like to live with an eating disorder, and the thought process that one has. It was heartbreaking to read, see the trauma that even just a bagel with cream cheese could give someone. It was interesting reading how the girls behaved and how they felt regarding food, and the evilness they found in them. It was also a beautiful thing to watch them fight, and to watch them want to live, because they realized they had something worth living for.

On the flipside, this book also comes with some heart wrenching moments, they leave you with some feelings for sure. Once I had started this book, I found it near impossible to put down. I needed to see what happened with Anna. I needed to know if she fought. Overall, I found the writing beautiful, heart wrenching, and I think this book is going to make an impact on it’s readers.

Alone with her biggest fears, Anna spirals down through the deadly coils of anorexia. This is her story, a hauntingly surreal portrait of her journey to reclaim control of her life.

With rhapsodic prose flooding my psyche with the elemental boldness necessary for survival, every word captured Anna's anxiety, every lyrical phrase aroused the reality of her self-imposed guilt, and every emotion took me on her harrowing journey.

Diving head first in the difficult topic of anorexia nervosa, I could only brace myself for the transference of emotions...I met and embraced each character. While some were hiding within the shadows, others like Anna, came forth with bravery, showing me how to survive.

I LOVED THIS BOOK!

The more I read, the more I wanted to meet Anna and learn more. Her strength and perseverance moved me. I knowing this is Yara's story too…To her, I give immense praise!


Highly recommended for Jodi Picoult fans!

I received an advanced copy of The Girls At 17 Swann Street by Yara Zgheib from St. Martins Press through NetGalley for a honest review. This poetic, emotionally harrowing story is about the struggles of anorexia. Eating disorders have devastating effects on the adolescents, women, and men who suffer from them and on the people who love them. This book thoroughly captures that, and yet it is a story filled with hope and compassion. I found the book difficult to read at times and had to put it down a couple of times, because it evoked so many emotions from anger, sadness, and empathy to full understanding.

Our society puts an extremely high value on beauty, on dieting/weight loss, and being the perfect size. All you have to do is turn on the television or flip through any magazine to find proof of that. But what often isn’t discussed or shown is what teenagers (especially young girls), women and men do to themselves to achieve that beauty, or to maintain the perfect weight/size. Anorexia is a biologically based disorder. Most often, anorexia emerges in early teenage years when a number of factors including, for some, the onset of dieting, converge. Dieting does not cause anorexia, but the reduction in calories that dieting causes can trigger the disorder in people who are genetically predisposed to it. However, there is a lot of pressure on some girls to be very thin. For instance, gymnasts, dancers, actresses, and models are often told by coaches, managers, or producers that they need to lose weight even when they are already thin. That’s why this novel is important and needed to be told, because eating disorders need to always be in the forefront of the discussion in mainstream society.

Book Synopsis:
Anna, a 26-year-old, checks into a treatment facility for anorexia at the behest of her beloved husband, who cannot continue to pretend she is not starving. It was not always like this: Once, Anna was a ballet dancer in Paris, where she and Matthias exuberantly fell in love. But then Anna got injured and stopped dancing, and Matthias took a job in St. Louis, and she followed, and now here she is in Bedroom 5 at 17 Swann St., amid a crew of other women, in varying states of distress. Where each day is a battle with food. Some of them will get better. Some of them won’t