Find out what Mumsnetters thought of The Food of Love by Amanda Prowse

[SorchaMumsnet]

Introducing… Amanda Prowse and her latest novel, The Food of Love. Read Amanda's Q&A to find out how the author keeps her fiction true to life.

Freya Braithwaite has a lot to feel lucky about - happily married for 19 years to a man who still excites her, two beautiful teenage daughters, and her dream career as a health-food writer.

But nothing could have prepared Freya for the devastating impact of her youngest daughter Lexi's struggle with eating disorders. She will do all she can to save her family, but how can she when food is both the problem and the solution?

Inspired by Amanda's own extreme struggle with body image and a family history of eating disorders, this is a powerful look at the challenge of raising teenagers in our image-conscious society.

We ask all winners to share their thoughts about the book on this discussion thread. However, you don't have to win a free book to take part in the discussion - you're welcome to grab a copy of The Food of Love and post a review on this thread.

Everyone who posts detailed feedback on the book by midday Monday 13 March will be entered into a prize draw to win a £100 Love2shop voucher.

This giveaway is sponsored by Lake Union

I love this book, such a good read. It really depicts how an eating disorder has an effect on everyone in the family and how hard it can be to deal with. I love the way that the book starts with food being celebrated in the family. The mum loves to cook and makes meals for all the family to share. As the book progresses the joy is taken out of cooking and mealtimes become a battle ground. It is really emotional to read and I really identified with how the mum struggled to come to terms with the illness and find an effective way to deal with it. The whole book is really well thought out and put together. I will definitely look for more books by this author

Wow. What a gripping read. Took me a while to get into it as found it quite fluffy to start, but in hindsight that was the author depicting a normal family. Because this awful disease can strike anywhere, it's blind to class, status and finances. I was taken back to how my mum talked about food and weight and how it led to my disordered eating. The book was a reminder on how to allow your parenting to incorporate positive reinforcement and not niggling criticism.

The characters were very relatable. And I really thought the relationship issues felt by the parents were typical of any couple with the trials that kids bring, but with the added complication of anorexia.

I'll be looking out for more by this author. Thanks MN.

I could really identify with this book having suffered with an eating disorder ever since I was around 14. I have always felt severe guilt for how it affected my family so this was such a good book to read.

I found this book so harrowing to read and it brought me to tears on several occasions. Despite this, I could not put it down. The characters were so real and I could really imagine their emotions and what they were going through. It is a subject I know little about so I found it very inciteful. It was scary to see how easily normal, happy family life could so quickly turn into a living nightmare. I praise this author on how well written this book is and will be looking out for more by her.

I found this book to be a slow started. Once I got in to it I enjoyed the read. The story is told from the perspective of the mother. I wonder if it would have been better through the girls eyes. It could be an emotional read for anyone with experience of anorexia.

Nearing the end of the book, thank you for sending me a copy. It's an emotive and deeply touching read on a subject that I've not directly been impacted by. It's beautifully written and described...my sister is already keen to read it once I've completed it!

Touching and emotional read by someone who knows first hand the difficulties in dealing with eating disorders within a family and the effects on the person with the disorder and other family members. Excellent read.

Thank you for the book. Unfortunately our DD has taken a turn for the worse and been admitted to hospital since I applied for this book. At the moment I do not feel up to reading it although I will do so when things have hopefully settled down again.

I got this from mumsnet - thank you as it's not a book I would have selected. I started it when it first arrived & got straight into it, very easy to read with engaging characters - painting a picture of a busy, happy family home. However, very quickly as it jumped time zone (into the future & back) there was a feeling if foreboding & I left it for a couple of weeks, not sure if if would return. I have 3 daughters, one is 12 & incredibly finicky about food. My OH has been paranoid about eating disorders since she was tiny. Thankfully we have not yet had to deal with smithing like this and I do hope it remains so. But due to this concern, I did return to the book. Overall it was a good read, that dealt with the emotions of the parents journey & impact on their relationship very well. However a couple of things that for me felt odd - Freya seemed to have no friends other than her editor. This seemed at odds with the picture of her life that was painted, I know she worked from home so this can be isolating but still.....? Also there was just one section/paragraph where we seemed to flip into American language referring to a car park as a 'lot' & another reference I can't remember. Just annoying but nothing major. Overall I'd say it it's important for this mental health issue to get addressed in this fictional way - it helps with education, a lot of the stuff wasn't new to me but I think can be shocking for those who come to this arena fresh (pro ANA sites for example). By the way, for those interested in this subject look out for CAroline Horton's award winning play 'Mess' which is a brilliant & has been touring internationally but hopefully may be touring in the UK again soon.

Another amazing book by Amanda Prowse although a very sad insight into eating disorders I found this book an emotional and compelling read

I bought this myself and found it a hard but very fascinating read.

I found this a very compelling read. An intense novel of a family's trials dealing with a daughters battle with anorexia. The book goes through a spectrum of emotions as the story is a rollercoaster of ups and downs. The Father coming across as the family rock while the Mother turns into a hysterical mess and sibling rivalry comes to the fore. Makes you think hard about the media and the obsession with body image they impress upon young women and the damage it does to the victims and families.

I had no idea what this book was going to be about. I didn't even read the back of the book to find out. (I enjoy reading books that I may not have chosen myself). I got into it quickly and when I realised the story was about a teenager with an eating disorder I felt interested to read more but also a little anxious (a bit scared even) as I have a 14 year old daughter myself. I found though that I became hooked on reading and wanted to get to the end as soon as possible. It made me think more about teenagers and eating disorders. I also liked the style of the book and would read more from this author. I think it particularly struck a chord with me as I have 3 children and I have know adults with anorexia. I'm not sure there are a lot of people who would choose to read this unless they feel connected in some way to the topic - though of course they should! As much as possible should be done to make people aware of the symptoms of this awful condition. Well done to the author for raising awareness.

The Food of love is a poignant book about how a family deals with an anorexic daughter. It's extremely well written and portraits the illness as it is which makes for difficult reading,. My feeling wa that there's too much written from the mother's view point.

I'm afraid that I really didn't enjoy this book having had such high hopes for it. It started badly as I have a completely irrational hatred of the name Lockie and I just couldn't get into the over descriptive writing; it was as if I was reading a film or TV script where every little detail was already supplied for you.

Both the characters of Lockie and Freya irritated me with Lockie making fun of people but Freya particularly. I couldn't understand how a supposedly educated woman, a food writer, could be so ignorant of eating disorders and dismissive of other people's concerns about her children. I couldn't relate to her inability to do what both her daughters needed from her and the conversations between the family just seemed so unnatural and flowery. I was unsure of why the Rendletons had been introduced as they didn't add anything to the story, I'd expected Mrs Rendleton's diminishing health to link in with Lexi's but they were hardly mentioned again.

I have only ever heard good things about Amanda Prowse and I will try another book by her as I thought the subject choice for this novel was really good and well researched.

I really enjoyed this book. I found it easy to get into and I didn't feel it dragged at all as I read it.

Having had my own teenage struggles with eating disorders it was interesting to read things from a parents view, especially as I'm a parent myself now; the only book I had previously read on the subject was from an anorexics point of view.

I could really feel Freya's frustration and struggle, although I think I would've fought harder to get Lexi professional help had I been in her situation.

It also shows anorexia for what it truly is - a vile, selfish, disease. Whereas when I was younger I would be emulating Lexi, reading this book I just found myself feeling frustrated, and willing her to get better at the same time.

A thoroughly enjoyably, thought provoking read, I'll be on the look out for more by Amanda Prowse to read.

An enjoyable and though provoking read - interesting to read about this issues from the parents view. Not a nice subject matter but Amanda Prowse handled it really sensitively

This is a very important subject that needs exploring and talking about openly with no shame - books like the enable that to happen and I look forward to reading it.

This book was very emotional to me. It portrays the story so realistically and really made me more aware of eating disorders and the toll this has on the family. It had made me more aware of this situation. It is a big battle and hope this disease goes away. With media and everything it is hard for people as they want to be thin. So sad.

This book pulls on so many relatable chord-strings for me. It made me realise the hell my mum must have gone through with me as a teen. Wonderfully written and very poignant!

What an emotional read

Eating disorders have been part of my family life, and I also have friends who have struggled with them for years. They ruin lives. It's great that these topics are being brought to the forefront of conversations by books like this, and this book sounds engaging and insightful.

I thought it was very good. Loved the ending!

I won a copy of this book. I haven't read any by this author before but I enjoyed it. It was well-written and the amount of speech in the book meant it almost read like a play in parts. Flowed well.

I love this book. I've known someone with an eating disorder and it captures perfectly what families go through and that the person with the disorder is not the only victim. The deceit involved in order to hide it from parents is brilliantly shown as lexi develops a real fear of food. The book is about not only Lexi's problems but how the family try and cope with those problems and how it is beginning to tear them apart. You also see a sibling, in Charlotte, pushed to one side in a way as the family focuses on her sister. The mother misses a concert and other things in Charlottes life because she is always having to deal with lexi's problems. A very good story with some real poignant moments.