Amazon UK
Title: The Food of Love
Author: Amanda Prowse
Format reviewed: Paperback
Source: Publicist supplied review copy
Publisher: Lake Union Publishing
Publication Date: 1st December 2016
Rating: 5 Stars
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| Amazon UK |
A loving mother. A perfect family. A shock wave that could shatter everything.
Freya Braithwaite knows she is lucky. Nineteen years of marriage to a man who still warms her soul and two beautiful teenage daughters to show for it: confident Charlotte and thoughtful Lexi. Her home is filled with love and laughter.
But when Lexi’s struggles with weight take control of her life, everything Freya once took for granted falls apart, leaving the whole family with a sense of helplessness that can only be confronted with understanding, unity and, above all, love.
In this compelling and heart-wrenching new work by bestselling author Amanda Prowse, one ordinary family tackles unexpected difficulties and discovers that love can find its way through life’s darkest moments.
Freya Braithwaite knows she is lucky. Nineteen years of marriage to a man who still warms her soul and two beautiful teenage daughters to show for it: confident Charlotte and thoughtful Lexi. Her home is filled with love and laughter.
But when Lexi’s struggles with weight take control of her life, everything Freya once took for granted falls apart, leaving the whole family with a sense of helplessness that can only be confronted with understanding, unity and, above all, love.
In this compelling and heart-wrenching new work by bestselling author Amanda Prowse, one ordinary family tackles unexpected difficulties and discovers that love can find its way through life’s darkest moments.
Whenever I have a new book by Amanda Prowse, the first thing I do is clear at the very least an afternoon, when I know I shouldn't have interruptions, so that I can sit and absorb what I hope will be her latest work of brilliance. The Food of Love is no exception, and has rocketed into my top reads of the year. I have sat and been absorbed into this story, the attention to detail, the way it is written, and feel that my life is certainly richer for having read this amazing book.
The Food of Love is potentially a life changing book for some people, I feel as though if you are suffering from, or know someone suffering from an eating disorder then there is a lot of merit in reading this brave and courageous book, which is all about how such illnesses affect all family members.
It is a work of fiction, but I honestly believe it has been so well researched, and written so poignantly that it is a real eye opener. This is all about 15 year old Lexi's struggle with food and all the related issues with it, and it takes over the entire family.
Her parents when it is first mentioned that she could have a problem both have very differing view points, both of which are completely understandable, but I couldn't help but want to scream at Freya, Lexi's mother to cotton on to things earlier. I can only imagine though, thankfully, what it would be like to be confronted with these sorts of problems and in truth Freya's reaction are all too natural and I can see a lot of people would probably think like she would.
I don't think I have ever read before a book that has dealt with this topic, for pretty much the whole book, and because it was written in the third person, I felt as though we could see just how far reaching the impact of one person's struggle with food is. Lexi's behaviours are all what you would expect and in some respects this is quite a harrowing tale.
It is though also a very real and warm hearted story of a family's love for each other wanting to over power a mental illness. It is incredibly clear just how much Freya, Lockie and eldest daughter, Charlotte all love each other and Lexi, and throughout the book there are reminisces of happier times.
Although we don't really get to know young Lexi properly, through the flashback, we get a feel for the sort of girl she used to be, and just how her personality has changed too.
I am being deliberately vague as I don't want to give too much away, but this book took me on an emotional roller-coaster, while making me far more aware about the details of this disease. There are some moments of light hearted relief, just to make some of the book feel a bit more bearable, but on the whole it is serious, while clearly having been written with a lot of love, which I could feel through the words.
The Food of Love is book I would urge you to consider reading, as is Amanda Prowse an author I would urge you to try as I don't think I have read a bad book by her yet. Like with Another Love at the start of this year, The Food of Love is another book that I feel will stick with me long into the next year and beyond.
Thank you so much to Simeon Prowse for sorting me out a copy of this book. This was my honest review.
Please do follow along with the rest of the blog tour for this simply remarkable book.
Amanda Prowse is a bestselling novelist with an incredible 136K followers on Twitter. This is her sixteenth novel and her books have been translated into a dozen languages and regularly top bestseller charts all over the world. Amanda has been dubbed ‘The Queen of Domestic Drama’ and writes about ordinary women and their families who find their strength, courage and love tested in ways they never imagined.
Through writing The Food of Love, Amanda has come face to face with her own feelings of shame, secrecy and obsession with food. Overweight as a child and a yo-yo dieter as an adult, Amanda has struggled with body image and overeating all her life.
She now recognizes that the habits of her once anorexic mother had a profound effect on her growing up. By writing about eating disorders in The Food of Love, Amanda has faced her own food demons and has made incredible steps to correcting her unhealthy relationship with food. Since she started writing the book, Amanda has lost one and a half stone and aims to reach her target, healthy weight by 1st December, the publication date of The Food of Love.
The Food of Love is potentially a life changing book for some people, I feel as though if you are suffering from, or know someone suffering from an eating disorder then there is a lot of merit in reading this brave and courageous book, which is all about how such illnesses affect all family members.
It is a work of fiction, but I honestly believe it has been so well researched, and written so poignantly that it is a real eye opener. This is all about 15 year old Lexi's struggle with food and all the related issues with it, and it takes over the entire family.
Her parents when it is first mentioned that she could have a problem both have very differing view points, both of which are completely understandable, but I couldn't help but want to scream at Freya, Lexi's mother to cotton on to things earlier. I can only imagine though, thankfully, what it would be like to be confronted with these sorts of problems and in truth Freya's reaction are all too natural and I can see a lot of people would probably think like she would.
I don't think I have ever read before a book that has dealt with this topic, for pretty much the whole book, and because it was written in the third person, I felt as though we could see just how far reaching the impact of one person's struggle with food is. Lexi's behaviours are all what you would expect and in some respects this is quite a harrowing tale.
It is though also a very real and warm hearted story of a family's love for each other wanting to over power a mental illness. It is incredibly clear just how much Freya, Lockie and eldest daughter, Charlotte all love each other and Lexi, and throughout the book there are reminisces of happier times.
Although we don't really get to know young Lexi properly, through the flashback, we get a feel for the sort of girl she used to be, and just how her personality has changed too.
I am being deliberately vague as I don't want to give too much away, but this book took me on an emotional roller-coaster, while making me far more aware about the details of this disease. There are some moments of light hearted relief, just to make some of the book feel a bit more bearable, but on the whole it is serious, while clearly having been written with a lot of love, which I could feel through the words.
The Food of Love is book I would urge you to consider reading, as is Amanda Prowse an author I would urge you to try as I don't think I have read a bad book by her yet. Like with Another Love at the start of this year, The Food of Love is another book that I feel will stick with me long into the next year and beyond.
Thank you so much to Simeon Prowse for sorting me out a copy of this book. This was my honest review.
Please do follow along with the rest of the blog tour for this simply remarkable book.
About Amanda Prowse
Amanda Prowse is a bestselling novelist with an incredible 136K followers on Twitter. This is her sixteenth novel and her books have been translated into a dozen languages and regularly top bestseller charts all over the world. Amanda has been dubbed ‘The Queen of Domestic Drama’ and writes about ordinary women and their families who find their strength, courage and love tested in ways they never imagined. Through writing The Food of Love, Amanda has come face to face with her own feelings of shame, secrecy and obsession with food. Overweight as a child and a yo-yo dieter as an adult, Amanda has struggled with body image and overeating all her life.
She now recognizes that the habits of her once anorexic mother had a profound effect on her growing up. By writing about eating disorders in The Food of Love, Amanda has faced her own food demons and has made incredible steps to correcting her unhealthy relationship with food. Since she started writing the book, Amanda has lost one and a half stone and aims to reach her target, healthy weight by 1st December, the publication date of The Food of Love.
Connect with Amanda on Twitter at @MrsAmandaProwse and on Facebook/amandaprowse
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