Winter Girls: Continued..

This author is very skilled in how she portrays the main character's vulnerability in dealing with such grave issues.  She crafts her work in a way that you can see what Lia wants to do and what she actually does. The author writes Lia’s wants but then crosses them out like this and then writes what Lia really does and correct herself. This especially deals with what she thinks about food. The food she actually wants to eat is crossed out and the stuff she truly eats is what happens.  Lia also faces a lot of personal conflict with herself. She struggles with her view of herself and society’s view of herself.  She thinks society’s view is wrong and tries to make it seem as though she is conforming to that image; however, she secretly pushes herself to not eat so she can stay at her ideal body type.

In addition to dealing with her battle with anorexia, she also deals with the grief of her best friend dying. She recently dissolved her friendship with Cassie. The guilt of her not picking up any one of her 33 calls from Cassie the night she died is eating her up. This guilt is slowly creeping more into her and making her think she is seeing Cassie and everyday life. I think this happens partly because she is so upset that her former best friend is dead, but she is also malnourished so her body is reacting to that.

Lia also has a very complicated family home life. She refers to her mom and stepmom as their first name. She does not like the family dynamic. Her mom and dad split when she was born and fight often. Her dad remarried pretty quickly after he was divorced and she does not like the new wife. She feels very alone when it comes to her family. Strangely enough she cares for her younger step-sister. She is the only one she cares for in the family.  Lia leads a very complicated life.