Book of Hope
stories of love, courage and recovery from families who have battled eating disorders.
The book tells the stories of nine families who generously opened up their homes, their hearts and their struggles to me, a complete stranger. As the mother of a child with anorexia, I was desperate to hear that people could get better and their words of encouraged helped me to keep going. They participated in the book, by and large, because they wanted to give back to others who were suffering, to let them know that they aren't alone and that recovery is possible.
I interviewed both the daughter with the eating disorder and parent(s) who supported her recovery. It is unusual to have both perspectives laid out side by side and I think this is a unique strength of the book.
I started with the same set of open-ended questions, things like: What were the hardest parts for you? What were the turning points? What gave you hope? What advice would you give to others? What do you wish people understood about eating disorders? What's life like now for you?
I was particularly curious about the recovery process. What is recovery? Are you ever recovered or always in recovery? Is recovery even the right word?
We chatted, we cried, we laughed and I left with hours of taped interviews to transcribe. These recordings would form the bones of the book. To this, I added tidbits of research that helped me to see my daughter's illness in a new light. And finally I wove in my own family's story as it progressed over the next two years, including my own battle with breast cancer and my daughter's coinciding relapse at the one-year mark. In the end, everything was necessary to tell the complete story.
Hope is not a light and ethereal element; it is tenacious, determined, intensely brave act.
My hope is that this book will help both those who is seek to understand and those who seek to be understood. I also hope that psychologists, dieticians, general practitioners, coaches, teachers and decision-makers will also find keen, new insight by reading these brave stories.
I interviewed both the daughter with the eating disorder and parent(s) who supported her recovery. It is unusual to have both perspectives laid out side by side and I think this is a unique strength of the book.
I started with the same set of open-ended questions, things like: What were the hardest parts for you? What were the turning points? What gave you hope? What advice would you give to others? What do you wish people understood about eating disorders? What's life like now for you?
I was particularly curious about the recovery process. What is recovery? Are you ever recovered or always in recovery? Is recovery even the right word?
We chatted, we cried, we laughed and I left with hours of taped interviews to transcribe. These recordings would form the bones of the book. To this, I added tidbits of research that helped me to see my daughter's illness in a new light. And finally I wove in my own family's story as it progressed over the next two years, including my own battle with breast cancer and my daughter's coinciding relapse at the one-year mark. In the end, everything was necessary to tell the complete story.
Hope is not a light and ethereal element; it is tenacious, determined, intensely brave act.
My hope is that this book will help both those who is seek to understand and those who seek to be understood. I also hope that psychologists, dieticians, general practitioners, coaches, teachers and decision-makers will also find keen, new insight by reading these brave stories.
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Sue at Audrey's Books in Edmonton, where her book appears in the Recovery, New Fiction and Edmonton Authors sections. |
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