
Good Girls
A Study and Story of Anorexia
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Narrated by:
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Hadley Freeman
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By:
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Hadley Freeman
From Hadley Freeman, bestselling author of House of Glass, comes a “riveting” (The New York Times) memoir about her experience as an anorexic and her journey to recovery.
In 1995, Hadley Freeman wrote in her diary: “I just spent three years of my life in mental hospitals. So why am I crazier than I was before????”
From the ages of fourteen to seventeen, Freeman lived in psychiatric wards after developing anorexia nervosa. Her doctors informed her that her body was cannibalizing her muscles and heart for nutrition, but they could tell her little else: why she had it, what it felt like, what recovery looked like. For the next twenty years, Freeman lived as a “functioning anorexic,” grappling with new forms of self-destructive behavior as the anorexia mutated and persisted. Anorexia is one of the most widely discussed but least understood mental illnesses. Through “sharp storytelling, solid research and gentle humor” (The Wall Street Journal), Freeman delivers an incisive and bracing work that details her experiences with anorexia—the shame, fear, loneliness, and rage—and how she overcame it. She interviews doctors to learn how treatment for the illness has changed since she was hospitalized and what new discoveries have been made about the illness, including its connection to autism, OCD, and metabolic rate. She learns why the illness always begins during adolescence and how this reveals the difficulties for girls to come of age. Freeman tracks down the women with whom she was hospitalized and reports on how their recovery has progressed over decades.
Good Girls is an honest and hopeful story of resilience that offers a message to the nearly 30 million Americans who suffer from eating disorders: Life can be enjoyed, rather than merely endured.
©2023 Hadley Freeman. All rights reserved. Originally published in Great Britain in 2023 by 4th Estate. (P)2023 HarperCollins Publishers Limited. All rights reserved.Listeners also enjoyed...




















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Best ED book I’ve read
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Hadley gives such insight , truth and hope by explaining her life.
During our darkest moments, this book allowed me to process the fears and struggles of our daughter.
There is HOPE and one always needs hope on a hellish path.
LISTEN TO IT!
Everyone who has a girl should read this!
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Great informative book!
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Excellent book about the personal experience of anorexia
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Loved the idea of a modern take on Eating Disorders.
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Has potential, but missed the mark.
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Pros:
1. Informative.
2. Highlights hospital inadequacy and overall inadequacies in the treatment of anorexia.
3. Author includes statements of friends/patients she met while in treatment and gives insight to their own struggles with anorexia.
Cons:
1. Author is a terf.
2. The material is heavily critical of overweight people & there are frequent comments of fat shaming.
3. Brief passage that hints at the "ideal beauty standard" as being thin, light eyed, and light haired.
4. Starts the book by saying she'll only speak on "typical anorexia" but spends a large amount of time throughout the book speaking about gender identity/dysphoria and people who wish to use hormone blockers. It is evident that she is seeking to push her anti-trans rhetoric via this book.
5. Has a section that highlights 'anorexia speak' but then later finishes a chapter with "anorexia really does kill the best ones", while knowing full well this could be problematic to anyone struggling or recovered.
6. "You have to be incredibly broken to be an adult bully" (Author is a terf)
7. The ending chapter felt rushed and performative. As if she needed to fabricate a happily ever after in order to finish the book.
I found out the author is a TERF....
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