What do you think?
Rate this book
Anorexia: A Stranger in the Family
Katie Metcalfe takes readers through the daily struggle with this potentially lethal obsession. It is a harrowing account of her triumphs and tragedies on the long road to recovery after being hospitalized at 15. We learn of Katie's constant battle with 'the voice' when her pride at improving her health is overshadowed by the fear of over eating.
It is a story of a young girl at war with herself and anyone who fights to keep her alive. However, Katie Metcalfe's book is more than a personal journey - it is the story of the impact of her illness on her family.
With remarkable candour Katie's parents and siblings tell of the shocking impact on close relatives - when anorexia creates a stranger in the family. Katie's honesty combined with her talent for writing, gives a real sense of the horror of anorexia and its power to dominate lives. It is a true account of a family's hard won victory over a disease that kills.
It is a story of a young girl at war with herself and anyone who fights to keep her alive. However, Katie Metcalfe's book is more than a personal journey - it is the story of the impact of her illness on her family.
With remarkable candour Katie's parents and siblings tell of the shocking impact on close relatives - when anorexia creates a stranger in the family. Katie's honesty combined with her talent for writing, gives a real sense of the horror of anorexia and its power to dominate lives. It is a true account of a family's hard won victory over a disease that kills.
282 pages, Kindle Edition
First published September 8, 2006
18 people are currently reading
362 people want to read
About the author
Katie Metcalfe
14 books10 followersMy name is Katie Metcalfe and I'm an English writer, blogger, poet and publisher. I'm also a mother living with bi-polar and I tend to be a bit too weird for most people.
I think I must have been born with a pen in my hand because when I'm not writing, the world feels at odds. When I'm not writing, I feel uncomfortable in my skin. When I'm not writing, I feel I'm not being the person I was put here to be. So I'm navigating this writing life, one line of ink at a time, with my daughter in one hand and my pen in the other.
I think I must have been born with a pen in my hand because when I'm not writing, the world feels at odds. When I'm not writing, I feel uncomfortable in my skin. When I'm not writing, I feel I'm not being the person I was put here to be. So I'm navigating this writing life, one line of ink at a time, with my daughter in one hand and my pen in the other.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
February 14, 2017
I wasn't originally going to write anything about this book -- it was fine, but pretty standard -- but here's something new: towards the end of the book, the author's parents, her sister, and one of her brothers each have a few pages to comment on how the author's illness affected them. I've read a number of books in which the parents added something, or a parent (usually a mother) co-wrote the book, but it's less common for siblings to weigh in.
The parents' section is more or less par for the course; they talk about how difficult it was and how a particular period was especially tough, but they're also hopeful. They want their daughter to be well; they can see signs of progress. The siblings' sections (which are quite short -- and, while the writing is fine, they were both quite young at the time, so it's nothing to write home about) tell a different story. It sucked, they say. It still sucks. She was different before, and things were better before. They're also less positive about recovery: I love her and I hope she gets better, but it still sucks, and I don't see much improvement. I'm paraphrasing, but I think that's a fair assessment -- and it's refreshing. While the author and her parents seem to have come round to the view that as long as she isn't on bed rest she's doing okay, her siblings are far more blunt, and looking for a fuller recovery.
All that really doesn't say much about the book -- the family section is short; I think it started about 200 pages in and wasn't the last section. But it was really interesting to go from the author's take on her illness to her family's take, and also interesting to see some of the treatment she experienced -- I have trouble imagining a hospital where I am pretty much having a patient stay on bed rest for five months without changing the course of treatment because the patient doesn't want to change things.
The parents' section is more or less par for the course; they talk about how difficult it was and how a particular period was especially tough, but they're also hopeful. They want their daughter to be well; they can see signs of progress. The siblings' sections (which are quite short -- and, while the writing is fine, they were both quite young at the time, so it's nothing to write home about) tell a different story. It sucked, they say. It still sucks. She was different before, and things were better before. They're also less positive about recovery: I love her and I hope she gets better, but it still sucks, and I don't see much improvement. I'm paraphrasing, but I think that's a fair assessment -- and it's refreshing. While the author and her parents seem to have come round to the view that as long as she isn't on bed rest she's doing okay, her siblings are far more blunt, and looking for a fuller recovery.
All that really doesn't say much about the book -- the family section is short; I think it started about 200 pages in and wasn't the last section. But it was really interesting to go from the author's take on her illness to her family's take, and also interesting to see some of the treatment she experienced -- I have trouble imagining a hospital where I am pretty much having a patient stay on bed rest for five months without changing the course of treatment because the patient doesn't want to change things.
January 6, 2017
I love this book as it makes you feel as if you are her. It shows what can destroy you in the world and what can make you. My favorite part was when she made me feel as if I was her in the story and i was part of her family when they fund about about her ana. I would recommend it to people that have/had anorexia and love reading emotional stories.
Read
April 26, 2021Very useful book!
The starting chapter were very rough, but that was Katie's reality. It makes you understand the suffers in a deeper way. It's a very useful book, as it gives many ideas of how to deal with ED as family team.
At the end provides her important contact information links and emails.
The starting chapter were very rough, but that was Katie's reality. It makes you understand the suffers in a deeper way. It's a very useful book, as it gives many ideas of how to deal with ED as family team.
At the end provides her important contact information links and emails.
August 19, 2017
This is a very worthwhile read if you know someone with anorexia as it gives insight into what is happening. It's a true account and had really helped me to understand more about what happens to change someone. Katie takes responsibility for her illness and I admired that.
June 20, 2018
Horrible disease. I read this to learn more about how the patient deals with treatment. The straight forward honesty of the author was great. I learned more than expected.
January 6, 2024
Why
It was an OK book about anorixa I have read alot of these type books and it was ok.Thats about all I c an say about it.
It was an OK book about anorixa I have read alot of these type books and it was ok.Thats about all I c an say about it.
September 16, 2013
it is very brave for katie to tell everyone her story of battling anorexia. her experiences and feelings during the years in recovery are very deteiled. however, i wouldnt say this is the best written book, since the words get a bit repetitive after about half way, but i suppose Katie was still quite young when she wrote this book and this is her first one. overall, i would give this book a 3 star. im not quite sure if this has helped me with my own problems with eating since i have been suffering from it since i was 11 or 12, also im not sure if i would recommend this to anyone i know who has an eating disorder because i did find some of the content trigering in this book. for example, every single time Katie mentions how much she weighs i feel like im really fat myself because i weigh more but shorter than her. and i guess it would be better if Katie put a photo of her at a healthy weight in the end. it would encourage people too.
March 21, 2015
I started reading this book because I am friends with Katie's youngest brother. I've only met their family once but they seem like lovely people and after reading this book I realise that my instincts were completely on point.
I really enjoyed reading Katie's book, and it brought to life just how incredibly difficult that particular period in their lives had been. I remember knowing vaguely about the situation but I never realised the way anorexia really takes a hold of not only the sufferers life, but the lives of their family and friends. It is now 2015, and I believe Katie has come through the other side of this (although I am sure that it will always live with her, somewhere) as do many mental illnesses. I have not asked too much about it with Sam. Well done, Katie. xx
I really enjoyed reading Katie's book, and it brought to life just how incredibly difficult that particular period in their lives had been. I remember knowing vaguely about the situation but I never realised the way anorexia really takes a hold of not only the sufferers life, but the lives of their family and friends. It is now 2015, and I believe Katie has come through the other side of this (although I am sure that it will always live with her, somewhere) as do many mental illnesses. I have not asked too much about it with Sam. Well done, Katie. xx
March 8, 2015
This is a very personal and informative book with plenty of suggestions of what could be done to victims of the disease. Some passages were very disturbing and detailed. It's also very nice to see how she managed to recover although never completely. The ending felt somehow rushed and some parts were a bit superficial but overall the book did a good job at raising awareness about the disorder. I've read the Kindle version but some words had no spacing between them which was somehow distracting.
June 17, 2011
It was a good insight into what it is like to have anorexia. I was doing a school project on it and i believed it really helped me to develop my characters. How ever, about half way through the writing style was wearing down my patience and the story line got repatative. Over all it was good but it certainly could have been a lot better.
June 21, 2016
I don't have an eating disorder but was dismayed that the book shared weight numbers, which most books on eating disorders intentionally avoid. It also felt like there was too much focus on her identity as a goth and less about what that meant to her.
October 8, 2016
A great book that shows first-hand how anorexia can affect a person and be so difficult to overcome. The short chapters from other family members were a nice addition to show that anorexia affects and takes something from the entire family, not only those suffering from this debilitating condition.
June 22, 2009
ah, it's got to be an AWFULLY RIVETING book if it's about EDs to keep me involved ... got bored ... same old been there done that - cool that she included pics, tho
October 18, 2022
Really good to see it from a different perspective to help you understand the illness
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews