I undertook reviewing this book with some trepidation. I presumed it would be yet another distant “tortured” account of anorexia. I found it quite the opposite. Lucy is an 18-year-old Australian university student. Her depiction of her mental state in anorexia is quite extraordinary. I know that anorexia affects the brain negatively, as a result of both malnutrition and the pervasive thinking disorder. It isn’t until the later chapters that you realise the extreme blunting of her intellect that has occurred. Lucy’s diary is an extraordinarily honest, most intelligent account detailing the process of her illness and pathway towards recovery.
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- Children’s Hospital at Westmead, Sydney, NSW