Skinny by Diana Spechler
Skinny is Diana Spechler’s second novel after Who by Fire, and let’s end the suspense: there is no sophomore slump here.
Gray Lachmann feels responsible for her father’s sudden death and tries to eat away her pain and guilt. In the meantime, via her father’s will, Gray discovers she has an illegitimate half-sister, so she does what any reasonable 26-year-old, slightly overweight girl who recently lost her father would do: she tracks down her half-sister through her blog and finds out she’s going to fat camp — so she signs up as a counselor.
Spechler tackles tough themes like body image, relationships with food and family, and various kinds of love from the perspective of someone who went to a weight loss camp to research the book. Yes, Spechler spent the summer of 2006 battling her own eating disorder while away at camp; Spechler further describes this experience at Freerange Nonfiction:
Eating disorders are diseases of both mind and body. Anyone who has ever suffered from one knows how consuming it is, how much energy it takes to maintain it. When you’re preoccupied to that degree, you’re selfish. That’s not a judgment, just the truth as I see it. I wanted to portray Gray as accurately as possible, so she has her head up her ass sometimes. She’s self-absorbed because she’s dealing with a serious eating disorder. But yes, writing a self-absorbed character made me nervous. The whole book made me nervous. Dealing with such a hot-button issue made me very, very nervous.
Spechler mentions Gray’s self-absorption, and indeed, this was a main character I just couldn’t really like. Just as with Who by Fire, in fact, I didn’t find any of the characters particularly likeable — yet I still couldn’t put this book down. This is a huge credit to Spechler’s prose and storytelling because ordinarily if I don’t like the characters, I tune out and give up fast.
But Skinny had me looking forward to it every night, so I’m giving it:
Five espresso cups out of five!
I highly recommend this book to anyone who struggles with body issues, finds the subject interesting, or simply appreciates a nicely paced, engaging story.
Body image continues to be a subject close to Spechler’s heart, by the way, which is why she created Body Confessions, a place for anyone to anonymously share their deepest secrets about their bodies, read others’, and even click a “been there” button on secrets that apply to them as well.
P.S. As I write this, Spechler’s first novel, Who by Fire, which I also loved, is available in the Kindle edition for just 99 cents (paperback only $5.98). I don’t know how long this will be the case, so hurry!
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