Alice in the Looking Glass: A Mother and Daughter's Experience of Anorexia

Alice in the Looking Glass is a moving memoir written by a mother and her anorexic daughter, Alice. At ten, Alice was an easy-going, free spirited child with a tremendous sense of humour, adored by everyone who knew her. At eleven, she started to develop her "rigmaroles"—little rituals which grew into severe Obsessive Compulsive Disorder and then, at fourteen, turned into anorexia. In the first part of the book, Jo Kingsley writes with raw intensity about Alice's illness and what she hopes is her recovery. Jo describes her journey through what she calls Planet Anorexia, recognizing the amazing support she received both professionally and personally and telling of the long periods of despair, guilt, anger and, as the mother of a much-loved child, sheer terror. In the second part of the book Alice, now on the road to recovery, also looks back over the past nine years. She writes vividly and honestly about herself, her illness, her treatment and recovery, other sufferers she met, and her relationship with her mother, friends and siblings. By opening their hearts and writing this book, Jo and Alice's wish is to pass on their experiences, to share their doubts, failures, anxieties and eventually some successes in the hope of supporting other families going through the same trauma.