Contemporary Fiction: The Girls at 17 Swann Street by Yara Zgheib

Taking a chance on a new author is always a gamble. At best, a reader is rewarded with a fantastic story and a new author to follow. At worst, it can feel like you have wasted your time, and it takes an incredible amount of convincing to attempt to read anything the author writes in the future. Most of the time, after one bad book, or even one that is simply mediocre, that is the end. The premise behind The Girls at 17 Swann Street by Yara Zgheib was enough for me to decide to take that chance, while also keeping my fingers crossed.

The Situation: Anna Roux, a former professional dancer from Paris, France, followed Matthias, the husband she is madly in love with, to the United States. While he has a job waiting for him, she searches for a ballet company to join, but does not find one. So instead, to fill the hours when Matthias is gone, she becomes a cashier at a local grocery store. Unfortunately, her attempts at staying busy are not enough to keep loneliness and insecurity at bay. Slowly but steadily, Anna starts to restrict what she eats, and her workouts become longer. She only wants to lose a little more weight and reach her goal. But when she reaches it, she decides it is not enough and sets a new, even more impossible one. More food gets banned from her diet, until eventually she is attempting to survive on apples and popcorn, while her body is cannibalizing itself in a desperate attempt to keep functioning. This is how Anna finds herself at 17 Swann Street with a diagnosis of anorexia nervosa.

The Problem: Even with Matthias's full support, his promise to visit every day, and the group of girls already at 17 Swann Street that seem both supportive and nice, Anna's recovery will not be easy. In fact, on most days, she believes it will be impossible. Who can eat that much cream cheese? Don't they understand that she is vegan? And why yogurt? The women she shares the house with are nothing if not helpful, even though they have their own battles to fight. Emm has been at 17 Swann Street the longest, and shows no signs of being able to leave any time soon. Quiet Valerie does not participate in popular activities such as the morning walks, but she does write Anna letters, preferring it over actually speaking. And Julia, who is always hungry, stays in a room that shares a wall with Anna's, and the two become friends. And then of course, there is Matthias, the husband who makes the 45-minute drive everyday to see the wife who is suffering with a disease he cannot understand. If she wants to get better, if she wants to return to her life with her husband, she will have to decide not to listen to what anorexia is telling her, and believe that staying alive is worth it.

Genre, Themes, History: This is a fiction novel set in 2016, and mostly deals with main character Anna's time in 17 Swann Street, a treatment center for women with eating disorders in St. Louis, Missouri. When the chapters are not focusing on Anna and her treatment at the facility, they are telling stories of her life right before she began seriously limiting what she eats, and before she finds herself being forced to eat six times a day, while also meeting with a nutritionist, a therapist, and participating in group therapy. Occasionally, a chapter will only contain an update on Anna's condition as recorded by a medical professional at 17 Swann Street. Naturally, there is a lot of talk about food and eating, as well as how easy it is to take even the smallest freedoms for granted when not committed to a treatment facility. But also, the book is a look into how anorexia works. Even though Anna is visibly wasting away, and she knows it, she still cannot make herself eat. The guilt is too much, and the justifications come too easy, as does the anger when someone attempts to tell her the truth. For Anna, if the choice is down to either eating or dying, then the latter is a very real option. 

My Verdict: For many people, anorexia is a difficult disease to understand. On the very surface, it appears to be the easiest thing in the world to fix. Just eat something! But of course, it is not that simple, and that is what Zgheib manages to get across. Not only that, but she does so in beautiful prose and in a different format from what we are used to. Yes, there are paragraphs and chapters and dialogue, but they are laid out differently. Almost stream-of-conscience, but with more clarity and organization. I found it to be beautifully written, but for many, the break from the standard use of quotations for dialogue will be annoying, or at least distracting. If readers can push past that, they will be treated to a well-written, though frustrating and heart-breaking story of several women whose greatest enemy is themselves.

Favorite Moment: When the women go to a local nail salon, and all of the colors they choose are from the Essie brand. The actual brand is never mentioned, but I own enough Essie polishes to recognize many of the color names.

Favorite Character: While Matthias may be a pillar of strength and support, for some reason I cannot call him my favorite character. Maybe it is the enabler side of him that is turning me off. Instead I choose a woman who is only referred to as 'Direct Care.' She is never given a name, but is the person who seems to keep the closest eye on the women at 17 Swann Street.

Recommended Reading: While it is a very different book, I recommend Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman.