The women are named for the black dresses they wear while working an upscale Australian department store circa the 1950’s. The story follows their lives over a busy Christmas season, both in the store and out. If you’re a fan of The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, this is the book for you.
I’m not a huge fan of fantasy, but this one grabbed me from the start. This short and poignant fairy tale is narrated by an artist, who returns to his childhood home in Sussex, England for a funeral. On a whim, he visits an old farm where he once played and is overwhelmed by memories of a magical event.
At her heaviest, Gay weighed 557 pounds. She describes packing on the weight to deal with the shame of a childhood trauma — being gang-raped at the age of 12. At its core, Hunger is a book about being fat (Gay’s choice of word) in a fat-shaming world and the assumptions others make. It’s also an eye-opening examination of food, weight and self image.
