This memoir is haunting, beautiful, and hard to forget. From the outside, Clare's life seems perfect. She has a great job as children's book author and is raising her two smart and talented daughters in Germany with her loving husband. Clare's story shows us that even when you think everything is perfect, something can happen that can turn your whole world upside down. This book traces Clare's oldest daughter Valerie's battles with depression and mental illness and her youngest daughter Elena's life with anorexia, the eating disorder that almost kills her. Clare does not sugar coat any part of her story, and you can hear her despair and desperation in every word. It is both inspiring and heartbreaking to read about how hard Clare fights for her daughter's health, even when it seems like Elena will never recover. I highly recommend this book to all readers!

Laura W. / Marathon County Public Library
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The author shares the pain she went thru to understand and help her child with a severe eating disorder. Good help was hard to find as this disease is not well understood and difficult to treat. Dunkle is able to bring to life the angst felt by her daughter and the family. I think this book can be a guide and a comfort to families going thru this terrible and not so unusual situation. ( )