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Body in Script
In the summer of 1994, months after graduating from San Francisco State University, Chava meets Stephen at a pristine, granite-lined, Sierra snowmelt pool of the Yuba River. Chava, a live-in nanny with plans to travel to Europe for adventure in six months, finds herself, instead, hospitalized with double-pneumonia and a collapsed lung. Stephen is by her side as she awakens from the thoracic surgery that saves her life. The couple emerges without question as to their devotion to one another, though Chava is changed forever after. The illness and subsequent surgery trigger anorexia that had lain in wait beneath years of body dysmorphia, exercise addiction, and fat phobia.
Stephen believes in Chava and in his dream to renovate a condemned Tudor Cottage style house in Midtown Sacramento. As Chava and Stephen move into their fixer-upper and live for years in their construction zone, they learn that with time, love and action can absorb trauma.
Body in Script is a novel in stories that documents Chava Wiseman's life as a woman who is trying to learn how to survive the nature of being contained in her body, home, marriage, and memories. Chava uses her various malfunctions and maladies, including PTSD as a result of sexual abuse, a severe eating disorder, and the emergence of a rare auto-immune condition, to examine her identity and her purpose for living. With the support of Stephen’s undying loyalty, she proves herself able to endure and accept the paradox of living in a body that doesn't often recognize what is for her and what is against her.
Each chapter of Body in Script begins with an illustration drawn by the author's husband, S. Paul Imagine. This fictional narrative of their shared life captures their relationship over the course of two decades. This is a true love story.
Stephen believes in Chava and in his dream to renovate a condemned Tudor Cottage style house in Midtown Sacramento. As Chava and Stephen move into their fixer-upper and live for years in their construction zone, they learn that with time, love and action can absorb trauma.
Body in Script is a novel in stories that documents Chava Wiseman's life as a woman who is trying to learn how to survive the nature of being contained in her body, home, marriage, and memories. Chava uses her various malfunctions and maladies, including PTSD as a result of sexual abuse, a severe eating disorder, and the emergence of a rare auto-immune condition, to examine her identity and her purpose for living. With the support of Stephen’s undying loyalty, she proves herself able to endure and accept the paradox of living in a body that doesn't often recognize what is for her and what is against her.
Each chapter of Body in Script begins with an illustration drawn by the author's husband, S. Paul Imagine. This fictional narrative of their shared life captures their relationship over the course of two decades. This is a true love story.
336 pages, Kindle Edition
Published July 30, 2025
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
November 4, 2024
In this powerful memoir, the author courageously unravels the complexities of eating disorders, body dysmorphia, and the intricate web of relationship struggles that often accompany these raw issues. The book is not just a recounting of experiences; it’s a profound exploration of emotional evolution, inviting readers into a deeply personal journey.
What sets this memoir apart is its unique narrative structure. The author cleverly intertwines the passage of time with their emotional development, creating a tapestry that reflects the chaos and clarity of recovery. Each chapter serves as a poignant snapshot, capturing the highs and lows that mark the struggle for self-acceptance.
The writing is visceral and honest, striking a delicate balance between vulnerability and resilience. the author does not shy away from the darker aspects of their journey, yet there’s an underlying thread of hope that weaves through the pages. It’s a reminder that healing is not linear, and that growth often emerges from the most challenging experiences. It’s a testament to the strength of the human spirit and an essential read for anyone seeking to understand the depths of these struggles and the path to healing.
What sets this memoir apart is its unique narrative structure. The author cleverly intertwines the passage of time with their emotional development, creating a tapestry that reflects the chaos and clarity of recovery. Each chapter serves as a poignant snapshot, capturing the highs and lows that mark the struggle for self-acceptance.
The writing is visceral and honest, striking a delicate balance between vulnerability and resilience. the author does not shy away from the darker aspects of their journey, yet there’s an underlying thread of hope that weaves through the pages. It’s a reminder that healing is not linear, and that growth often emerges from the most challenging experiences. It’s a testament to the strength of the human spirit and an essential read for anyone seeking to understand the depths of these struggles and the path to healing.
February 3, 2025
Body in Script is a semi-autobiographical novel told by way of chapters that are essentially connected short stories. It’s a unique and well-executed format that makes everything more than the sum of its parts, if I may invoke a cliché.
There are three intertwined themes, or storylines woven throughout. One is the author’s alter-ego, Chava and her lifelong struggle against a body that betrays her at every turn. The litany of conditions, injuries and afflictions is rivaled only by those of Job. You know, the Old Testament guy. From acute pneumonia, to eating disorders, to sexual assault-related PTSD, to body dysmorphia, to¬—and I admit I had to Google this one—Raynaud’s Disease.
Second is the evolution of Chava’s relationship with her husband Stephen. From free-spirited, naked-at-the-river attraction at first sight to the reality of building a life between one person, a college professor with responsibilities who craves order and one who is a chaos-embracing free-spirit artist.
Finally, the third element is not so much a narrative thread as it is a literal and metaphorical connective tissue that weaves the first two ideas together and ties them together inexorably, for better or for worse. This is THE house. Early on, Chava and Stephen buy a house in midtown Sacramento. To call it a fixer upper would be an understatement of cyclopean proportions. It is the Titanic, brought back to the surface, at a bargain price, in the belief that it can be made seaworthy once again.
Finally, I must commend the writing itself. The prose is elevated and vividly descriptive. I’ve never had an eating disorder, but while reading Body in Script, I certainly felt like I knew what it was like to experience. In one of the earlier stories, Fixer-Upper, Chava has her fingers trapped under a vengefully malfunctioning guillotine window. For hours. The narrative expertly goes back and forth between the very real pain and inability to extract herself from the predicament, and the other story lines that the house ties together. I swear, when I finished that chapter, I felt like I needed to ice my fingers.
And, lest you think this is an oh-woe-is-me tale, it is not. It is a tale of perseverance and triumph, even if marginal at times, over the forces of life’s arbitrary unfairness. It is ultimately a celebration of hope.
There are three intertwined themes, or storylines woven throughout. One is the author’s alter-ego, Chava and her lifelong struggle against a body that betrays her at every turn. The litany of conditions, injuries and afflictions is rivaled only by those of Job. You know, the Old Testament guy. From acute pneumonia, to eating disorders, to sexual assault-related PTSD, to body dysmorphia, to¬—and I admit I had to Google this one—Raynaud’s Disease.
Second is the evolution of Chava’s relationship with her husband Stephen. From free-spirited, naked-at-the-river attraction at first sight to the reality of building a life between one person, a college professor with responsibilities who craves order and one who is a chaos-embracing free-spirit artist.
Finally, the third element is not so much a narrative thread as it is a literal and metaphorical connective tissue that weaves the first two ideas together and ties them together inexorably, for better or for worse. This is THE house. Early on, Chava and Stephen buy a house in midtown Sacramento. To call it a fixer upper would be an understatement of cyclopean proportions. It is the Titanic, brought back to the surface, at a bargain price, in the belief that it can be made seaworthy once again.
Finally, I must commend the writing itself. The prose is elevated and vividly descriptive. I’ve never had an eating disorder, but while reading Body in Script, I certainly felt like I knew what it was like to experience. In one of the earlier stories, Fixer-Upper, Chava has her fingers trapped under a vengefully malfunctioning guillotine window. For hours. The narrative expertly goes back and forth between the very real pain and inability to extract herself from the predicament, and the other story lines that the house ties together. I swear, when I finished that chapter, I felt like I needed to ice my fingers.
And, lest you think this is an oh-woe-is-me tale, it is not. It is a tale of perseverance and triumph, even if marginal at times, over the forces of life’s arbitrary unfairness. It is ultimately a celebration of hope.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews