Review: The Girls at 17 Swann Street by Yara Zgheib (audio)

Title: The Girls at 17 Swann Street
Author: Yara Zgheib

Narrator: Saskia Maarleveld
Published: February 2019, Macmillan Audio / St. Martin's Press

Length: 7 hours 49 minutes / 384 pages
Source: Audio - Macmillan Audio / Print - ARC E-copy via Netgalley via St. Martin's Press

Summary:
The chocolate went first, then the cheese, the fries, the ice cream. The bread was more difficult, but if she could just lose a little more weight, perhaps she would make the soloists’ list. Perhaps if she were lighter, danced better, tried harder, she would be good enough. Perhaps if she just ran for one more mile, lost just one more pound.

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.

Yara Zgheib's poetic and poignant debut novel is a haunting, intimate journey of a young woman's struggle to reclaim her life. 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.

My thoughts: 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.

Audio thoughts: I was fortunate to have been sent an early copy of this book on audio and I loved listening to it. The narrator, Saski Maarleveld did a fantastic job with this book. She got the emotions right, the tension right - as tough as this book was to "read," she made it an experience to remember.