"Me llamo Anna. Soy bailarina. Una auténtica soñadora. Creo en el amor y en que todos tenemos un propósito en la vida. Todavía me quedan muchos libros por leer, muchos lugares por visitar, canciones que bailar y velas de cumpleaños por soplar. Incluso muchos deseos que cumplir. Entonces ¿qué hago yo en este lugar? Al pasar por delante del número 17 de Swann Street no se advierte nada extraño. Ningún detalle en la fachada de color rosa melocotón sugiere que, en su interior, los teléfonos móviles son confiscados, los espejos están prohibidos, los cuartos de baño se cierran con llave y las residentes deben terminarse seis comidas diarias. Sin excepción. Existe otra regla fundamental en ese lugar,hay una palabra de ocho letras que no debe pronunciarse jamás: anorexia."

"The chocolate went first, then the cheese, the fries, the ice cream. The bread was more difficult, but if she could just lose a little more weight, perhaps she would make the soloists' list. Perhaps if she were lighter, danced better, tried harder, she would be good enough. Perhaps if she just ran for one more mile, lost just one more pound. Anna Roux was a professional dancer who followed the man of her dreams from Paris to Missouri. There, alone with her biggest fears - imperfection, failure, loneliness - she spirals down anorexia and depression till she weighs a mere eighty-eight pounds. Forced to seek treatment, she is admitted as a patient at 17 Swann Street, a peach pink house where pale, fragile women with life-threatening eating disorders live. Women like Emm, the veteran; quiet Valerie; Julia, always hungry. Together, they must fight their diseases and face six meals a day. Every bite causes anxiety. Every flavor induces guilt. And every step Anna takes toward recovery will require strength, endurance, and the support of the girls at 17 Swann Street." --