The Long Secret Hunger
A Journey Through, and Succesfully Out of, Twenty Years of Anorexia
Published on 8. June 2012
Book
Paperback/Softback
290 pages
978-1-906053-88-8 (ISBN)
Description
A journey through, and succesfully out of, twenty years of anorexia. It wasn't just 'losing weight' that mattered to Alison - it was losing flesh, losing her whole physical being. Then - and only then - might she avoid the terrifying prospect so frequently threatened by her mother: that she would "...end up on the scrap-heap". Alison's compelling auto-biography reveals how this 'promising' thirteen-year-old became entrapped in the turmoil that accompanies - or maybe helps to generate - anorexia, and the tumultuous and bumpy journey away from this 'fate'. Unlike other stories of recovery, Alison's is written many years after finding her 'freedom'. It therefore offers, perhaps, a more reflective, mature and long-term perspective on this ever more widely encountered torment. Further Information and background to the book and illness are available at www.robinswood.co.uk.
Reviews / Votes
"I wish that everyone could read this book before they become parents. Perhaps it would show ... that material possessions do not compensate for love and security." [Daphne Barnes - wife of Alison Hodge's former GP]. "Everyone's life experience tells a story and the pages of this particular story speak to me of the need for all children to be accepted and loved unconditionally for who they are, not for what someone else wishes they should become. It is true that the story tells of intense loneliness and sorrow but, above all, it is a story of hope, that change is possible, despite - or maybe even because of - deep adversity." [Rosie Ball - BAPsych, Psychology Teacher and Parent]More details
Language
English
Place of publication
Stourbridge
United Kingdom
Target group
Children/juvenile
Dimensions
Height: 198 mm
Width: 128 mm
Thickness: 23 mm
Weight
475 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-906053-88-8 (9781906053888)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Person
The most unusual feature of this compelling autobiography is the age of the author at the time this story was written. Alison Hodge has not only lived with anorexia for many years - sometimes only just - but lived both through it and out the other side. Despite occasional lapses, and re-kindling of some of the pressures and circumstances which played into the affliction, Alison has ultimately been able to live a normal life for a lengthy period, many years, little troubled by the problems she suffered so intensively in her earlier years. It is this longevity which distinguishes Alison Hodge's story and which, hopefully, can serve to encourage those who suffer from - either directly or indirectly - the very real and widespread problem of anorexia.