Diary of an Anorexic Girl

In a society in which individuality, control and image are almost everything, about one in 100 teenage girls battles anorexia nervosa.

The frightening reality is anorexia kills people—or rather anorexia sufferers slowly kill themselves—often seemingly ordinary young people from “nice” homes and schools.
But rather than merely quoting the statistics or examining the “issue” with limp socio-psychology sterility, Diary of an Anorexic Girl confronts anorexia by means of an engaging, intelligent and creative story. As such, it is an effective discussion starter and entertaining reading.
Writer Morgan Menzie is herself a recovered anorexic girl and the “based on a true story”–subtitle points to the core of personal experience underlying the book. However, the book is presented as a fictional journal, as we are introduced to Blythe Beaumont on her 13th birthday. In the following 180 pages, we are a part of the next five years of Blythe’s life, focusing on her gradual descent into anorexia and shaky recovery.
The strength of the story-form is Menzie’s demonstration of the interaction between all aspects of her character’s life. From Menzie’s experience, food and weight are not the real issues. Anorexia is not a detached experience; it is a complicated state of mind, body and soul, influenced by and impacting upon her family, her friends, her school experiences and her faith.
At times, the story edges toward Home and Away–like melodrama, but Menzie never falls over that precipice, perhaps rescued by the combined weight of autobiography and serious issue. As Menzie explains in her introductory disclaimer: “When it comes down to it, this is my life. What you are reading really happened to me, just not in exact detail.”
The recurring questions of God and faith in the midst of Beaumont/Menzie’s struggle with anorexia are intriguing aspects of this story. She portrays both the challenges and reassurance that come with Christian knowledge in such difficult circumstances—without descent into cliché.
Anorexia is a serious subject, so the well-presented and informed account of this condition in Diary of an Anorexic Girl is worthwhile. But as much as anything else, Menzie’s story is captivating reading. Her characters are alive and build empathy. As a reader, you care about Blythe’s recovery. And through her anguish, there is hope and healing.

Diary of an Anorexic Girl (based on a true story),
by Morgan Menzie, Transit Books, 2003, 181 pages.