Brave Girl Eating, take 4.

Harriet Brown employs so many powerful ways of writing into her book. There is not one way that she writes every chapter; they differ in perspective, almost. Several chapters are informational. She is the mother doing her research on her child's illness, and her findings are shocking, and open the reader's eyes to the facts that accompany anorexia nervosa. Most sufferers of this disease never fully recover. Anorexia has one of the highest mortality rates accompanying a mental disorder, with the rate being measured as high as 20%. It affects mainly women in developed countries, beginning usually around age 17.
Brown really delves into her creative writing in the chapters in which she emotionally confides to the reader. Her pain is clear and deep, and often brings me to tears. She feels helpless, confused, and tired, but at the same time, incredibly resilient. Brown also tells the stories of day to day life, and how they differ with how things used to be, and how they differ from the life of a family not suffering from this illness... that's another point. It's not just Brown's daughter Kitty suffering- it is the entire family. Suddenly their conversations revolve around food and calorie intake. The story changes with their lives, reflecting the ups and downs that Kitty experiences in fighting this disease. Brown refers frequently to a "demon" present within Kitty. Sometimes Kitty is unwilling to be helped, and turns against her parents in fits of rage. The tons of these scenes is scary and emphasize how volatile Kitty's condition can be. The "demon" will show up out of the blue and take over Kitty's willpower to recover. It is the part of the illness that Harriet despises most, because she cannot even recognize her own daughter when the demon is spitting words of hate in her direction.

I haven't had much free reading time lately, but the images that Harriet creates, and the emotions she conveys have stayed with me, and I'll definitely be picking the book up again, as soon as possible.