First published 2012
Edie Middlestein sits in her Chicago suburban home, thinking about her next meal while her marriage of three decades crumbles around her. Her weight has grown dangerous, her obsession with eating consuming her thoughts, but she cannot stop. Richard finally leaves her, shattering the solid family life they built together with their two children in their comfortable neighborhood. The crisis forces their adult children into action. Robin, a schoolteacher, burns with anger at her father's abandonment and demands he face consequences. Her brother Benny, a relaxed pot smoker with his own family, tries to keep everyone calm and united. Meanwhile, Rachelle, Benny's perfectionist wife, takes on the enormous challenge of saving Edie's life while simultaneously planning an elaborate b'nai mitzvah for her twin children. As the family fractures and reforms around Edie's condition, they grapple with difficult questions about responsibility and blame. The story examines whether Edie alone bears the weight of her destructive choices or if others share the burden of her downward spiral.
Genres: literary-fiction, american-fiction, contemporary, adult-fiction, 21st-century, family-drama
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: family-drama, found-family
Setting: Chicago
Period: 21st-century
273 pages · Hardcover · Grand Central Publishing
Content warnings: eating-disorder