Hoping for Rain

by Catherine Kerr-Phillips

Catherine is a fifteen year old schoolgirl who wishes she could just be that little bit more popular, and is sure that once she improves herself, everything will be brilliant, the taunts will stop, and everyone will accept her for who she is. Her new year's resolution is to lose weight, just like many of her friends. But whereas her friends tire quickly of their diets, Catherine is fuelled by self loathing and gets the results she wants - fast. She can't stop, and her diet rapidly becomes a nightmarish cycle of starving and tortuous exercise routines. As her body shuts down and begins to break, Catherine can feel her grip on life slipping away, and realise she doesn't want to die. But anorexia is an illness that doesn't like being cured, and how do you get better when you're the germ for your own disease?

Genres: Mental Health, Psychology

302 pages, Paperback

First published December 23, 2010

Reviews

[Jackie · Rating 4 out of 5]

As a trainee counsellor, I wanted to read something from the perspective of a person with the disease. This book was very helpful for me.

[Rachel · Rating 2 out of 5]

1.5 stars.
Bits and pieces were good, but overall, it didnt hold my interest.

[SW! · Rating 5 out of 5]

She talked the truth. Loved it.

[Angie Engles · Rating 4 out of 5]

There is a sincerity to this memoir that is touching and rare in a genre that often comes across as self-manufactured. Maybe my experience with this book would have been better with print. The Kindle edition makes for an uncomfortable read. Everything is thrown together, with run-on paragraphs and typos. Still...I kept on because the topic is an important one and Catherine Kerr-Phillips is likable and she has an important message to share.

It's a shame the cover from Hoping For Rain is not visible here on GoodReads because it is horrifying, sad and somehow fitting. I can't even begin to imagine the suffering involved with having an eating disorder, but I do know that a lot of books on anorexia have sometimes (unintentionally?) failed to crucially capture that it is a disease and NOT a fashion trend.

Thankfully, Hoping For Rain is not one of those books. It does not glam things up or make it an unwilling textbook for pro-ana websites. It simply is.

[Abigail McHugh · Rating 4 out of 5]

I cannot say that I thoroughly enjoyed reading this, as that would be rude to say about a personal hell. I would rather say that I was both fascinated and appalled at what this woman went through.

Having had the pleasure of having Catherine in my spoken English class at the Universite of Nice, I never would have guessed at the monster that had lived within. The Catherine I knew was bubbly, effervescent, proud, opinionated, confident (at least seemingly so) and stunning, both in personality and looks.

Catherine, I am incredibly honored to have had you as a student. I am proud of you for pulling through, and being honest with yourself. I am also incredibly proud that you would write this and put it out for all the world to read. You truly are a beautiful person, inside and out.

[Amanda Starshine · Rating 3 out of 5]

Although I did really appreciate the art work running through the book and the descent into the grips of the illness, it felt like the ungripping and clawing free was described in a way which made it sound easier than it was. I thought it was well written and enjoyed the wit, but think maybe the turn around between the all consuming haze and health could have been represented more see-saw like than it was. Still really recommend the read :)