Ravenous Girls by Rebecca Burton

I recently reviewed a memoir by Hadley Freeman, who had been diagnosed with anorexia as a teenager, so it was interesting to read a fictional account of the illness, this time from the perspective of a family member.

Ravenous Girls by Rebecca Burton tells the story of 14-year-old Frankie, who is trying to understand her older sister Justine’s admission to hospital with anorexia. Justine, a talented pianist, was about to begin studying music at university when anorexia takes over her life. Continue reading

The Anniversary by Stephanie Bishop

In The Anniversary by Stephanie Bishop, author J.B. Blackwood, takes her husband, Patrick, a famous film director, on a cruise to celebrate their anniversary. J.B. is nursing a secret – she has won a yet-to-be-announced major literary prize. A storm hits, and Patrick falls from the ship. That might sound overly dramatic, but actually, this book is a moral thriller, and the story unfolds from that point onward (and there’s a lot more to it).

In a story… the feeling of not knowing what happens next is often a thing of pleasure: the cornerstone of our delight… But the same feeling of not-knowing, as it happens in one’s real life, is rarely so pleasurable… Continue reading