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Starving: A Memoir
“This author has SO much courage!” – Adriana Jaymes author of Running From Bears“Fantastic read with a powerful and triumphant ending.” – Reader ReviewThe Washington Post called her "A DIY furniture maven" when she built her small, women-owned business. However, the world was much bleaker as a young girl growing up emotionally and physically starving.
Like Tara Westover in her memoir, Educated, Christen was also caught in the confines of her upbringing. She grew up under the rule of an emotionally absent and critical mother, attended a cult-like evangelical church that practiced exorcisms and went to a school that publicly punished kids with paddling, duct-taping their mouths closed and tying children to their desks with rope.
Starving is a memoir by Blue Egg Brown Nest founder, Christen Bensten. You may know some of Christen's story through her popular blog, Blue Egg Brown Nest, but you don't know all of it.
Christen shares her painful story of growing up in a constant state of fear, managing her anxiety and depression on her own. As a fearful and quiet child, Christen did not have the tools to fight back against the people that tried to keep her small and she spent many years locked in her bedroom trying to manage her debilitating depression on her own. Her anxiety turned into daily purging at age ten and kept her from expanding into the world. It wasn’t until the birth of her first child that she was able mount the courage she needed to set up healthy boundaries, heal from the past and move into her bright future. She has been published in The Washington Post , Cottage Living Magazine , Arlington Magazine, Romantic Homes Magazine , freshstyle Magazine and several other publications including the book Southern Style. She has shared her YouTube Tutorials to millions of people on her Blue Egg Brown Nest Channel. Christen is a mom of three, a writer, painter, avid reader and Jesus-lover. She also fosters loads of homeless kitties. Her audience is anyone seeking to move away from the prison of the past and toward mental and physical well-being.
Follow and subscribe at christenbensten.com
For her design site, follow and subscribe at blueeggbrownnest.com
Like Tara Westover in her memoir, Educated, Christen was also caught in the confines of her upbringing. She grew up under the rule of an emotionally absent and critical mother, attended a cult-like evangelical church that practiced exorcisms and went to a school that publicly punished kids with paddling, duct-taping their mouths closed and tying children to their desks with rope.
Starving is a memoir by Blue Egg Brown Nest founder, Christen Bensten. You may know some of Christen's story through her popular blog, Blue Egg Brown Nest, but you don't know all of it.
Christen shares her painful story of growing up in a constant state of fear, managing her anxiety and depression on her own. As a fearful and quiet child, Christen did not have the tools to fight back against the people that tried to keep her small and she spent many years locked in her bedroom trying to manage her debilitating depression on her own. Her anxiety turned into daily purging at age ten and kept her from expanding into the world. It wasn’t until the birth of her first child that she was able mount the courage she needed to set up healthy boundaries, heal from the past and move into her bright future. She has been published in The Washington Post , Cottage Living Magazine , Arlington Magazine, Romantic Homes Magazine , freshstyle Magazine and several other publications including the book Southern Style. She has shared her YouTube Tutorials to millions of people on her Blue Egg Brown Nest Channel. Christen is a mom of three, a writer, painter, avid reader and Jesus-lover. She also fosters loads of homeless kitties. Her audience is anyone seeking to move away from the prison of the past and toward mental and physical well-being.
Follow and subscribe at christenbensten.com
For her design site, follow and subscribe at blueeggbrownnest.com
291 pages, Kindle Edition
Published April 7, 2021
13 people are currently reading
20 people want to read
About the author
Christen Bensten
3 books13 followersChristen Bensten is the author of Starving, a memoir about her childhood trauma and cult-like, religious education.
She is the founder of Blue Egg Brown Nest Interiors & Design, a popular design blog and interior design business. She has been featured in Southern Style (Hoffman Media) as well as The Washington Post, Cottage Living Magazine, Romantic Homes Magazine, Southern Living Magazine, Freshstyle Magazine, Vintage Living Magazine, Daily Candy, This Old House, and Arlington Magazine.
Christen lives just outside of Washington, D.C. with her husband, three kids, five cats and loads of foster kitties looking for good homes.
Crazy On You is the first book in her Huntwood Valley Murder Series. Fawn and the Giants, a literary novel, is set to launch 2023. Subscribe at christenbensten.com, follow on Facebook at Christen Bensten Author and Instagram at christenbenstenauthor.
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
April 15, 2021
The only way to help others is by helping yourself. No matter what your childhood was like, there was likely some sort of trauma, maybe within or maybe outside of your family home. Christen Bensten bravely shares her unique childhood with us. The vulnerability and fear palpable with her colorful vocabulary and visceral imagery. Thank you for shining a light on the stigma of self-loathing, depression, self-harm and suicide.
April 12, 2021
Starving is a memoir by Blue Egg Brown Nest founder, Christen Bensten. Christen tells the difficult and intimate story of living in a constant state of fear, managing her anxiety and depression and what it took to find love and healing.
Christen vulnerably takes the reader through her childhood trauma and daily act of purging, growing up in a cult-like evangelical church, and the public punishments of the private school she attended where children were tied to their chairs.However, instead of caving into depression and the temptation of self-harm, Christen sought help and healing at all costs.
Christen Bensten is the founder of women-owned business Blue Egg Brown Nest/Furniture & Interiors https://blueeggbrownnest.com. She been published in The Washington Post, Cottage Living Magazine, Arlington Magazine, Romantic Homes Magazine, freshstyle Magazine and several other publications including the book publication of Southern Style. She has shared her YouTube Tutorials to millions of people on her Blue Egg Brown Nest Channel.
Christen is a mom of three, a writer, painter, avid reader and Jesus-lover. She also fosters loads of homeless kitties.
Christen vulnerably takes the reader through her childhood trauma and daily act of purging, growing up in a cult-like evangelical church, and the public punishments of the private school she attended where children were tied to their chairs.However, instead of caving into depression and the temptation of self-harm, Christen sought help and healing at all costs.
Christen Bensten is the founder of women-owned business Blue Egg Brown Nest/Furniture & Interiors https://blueeggbrownnest.com. She been published in The Washington Post, Cottage Living Magazine, Arlington Magazine, Romantic Homes Magazine, freshstyle Magazine and several other publications including the book publication of Southern Style. She has shared her YouTube Tutorials to millions of people on her Blue Egg Brown Nest Channel.
Christen is a mom of three, a writer, painter, avid reader and Jesus-lover. She also fosters loads of homeless kitties.
October 17, 2021
I just couldn't keep reading this book. I got to 43% on my Kindle and had enough. The author needs a good editor to fix typos and perhaps improve the structure of the book. I found the plea for empathy at the beginning a bit strange, and I found that my empathy for the main character quickly grew short, especially when she talked about tormenting her sister's cat and throwing hissy fits over a great many things. Perhaps it got better and she grew as a person, I don't know but I decided to stop reading a book I wasn't enjoying.
May 14, 2021
Fabulous read!
I have followed Christen on her blue Egg Brown Nest website for a long time and I missed her when she stopped writing. I was so happy to see this book and I could not put it down! Though I wasn’t raised with a mentally ill parent, I know lots of people who have been and this was a very helpful resource for me. I love the way Christen writes and I love that she is recovering! I look forward to reading more as she publishes more! Bottom line! READ THIS BOOK!
I have followed Christen on her blue Egg Brown Nest website for a long time and I missed her when she stopped writing. I was so happy to see this book and I could not put it down! Though I wasn’t raised with a mentally ill parent, I know lots of people who have been and this was a very helpful resource for me. I love the way Christen writes and I love that she is recovering! I look forward to reading more as she publishes more! Bottom line! READ THIS BOOK!
May 1, 2021
Thank you for sharing your story to inspire us all !
June 3, 2021
Christen describes her personal journey honestly and doesn’t hold anything back. She writes from the heart and bravely shares her struggles and triumphs. I thoroughly enjoyed hearing her story.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews