"The Girls at 17 Swann Street"

“The Girls at 17 Swann Street”

Written by Yara Zgheib

Review written by Diana Iozzia / Bookworm Banter

I received a free copy of this book in exchange for reading and reviewing it.

Reading books about mental health, especially ones written by people who have experienced the mental health illnesses, can be difficult to do. This book is about a woman in her twenties, Anna, an ex-ballerina whose health has declined so drastically, she must stay in an in-patient home for women with eating disorders. Anna has anorexia, and she has been battling it for years now. Loved by her husband, Matthias, and her family, she feels the motivation to get better.

This book is difficult to read in different ways, but this book is important. We read through Yara’s voice, explaining her own experiences, but through the medium of Anna’s story. Anorexia is very personal, and we see Yara’s own heart and sadness in the story. This book does not glamorize eating disorders, unlike many forms of media about mental health. We see the happy lives of Anna and Matthias turn cold and lonely as Anna descends into her anorexia. We see heartbreaking patients that Anna befriends. We see death in the home.

This book is told in a very poetic style, with descriptions but not set prose. Everything seems more in Anna’s head than told out loud. When we do see Anna’s past, we are told through third person omniscient, which gives us the information that Anna does not tell us.

Now, with a mental health book about characters in a mental help facility, we know that they will either fail or improve, so we are not surprised with the path that Anna goes through. We have hope for her, but we also are frustrated with some of her decisions. I enjoyed this book, but I did not enjoy this book at the same time. I think that as someone who has never struggled with mental health issues, that I do not feel as sympathetic or understanding, because I do not know how this character feels. I do want her to get better, to be happy again. I recommend this book for those who enjoy reading mental health fiction but not to those who would like to learn more about anorexia. This is more about Anna’s relationship, her family, and her rather than her eating disorder.