Alternate Beauty

She couldn’t change the way the world looked at her, so she changed the world.…

Ronnie Tremayne is a big girl with big dreams: she wants to be a fashion designer. But as her model-thin mother never fails to remind her, in fashion, image is everything—and Ronnie is a size 28. When she learns that her job managing a plus-size boutique is in jeopardy because her weight is “disturbing” to the clientele, Ronnie loses control. After a late-night binge, she dozes off wishing for a world where fat is beautiful. When she awakens the next morning…it is.

Now the ideal woman, Ronnie is thrust into the spotlight. She attends the best parties. She has her mother’s approval. Her boss invests in her clothing line. And the men! But as her appetite for life grows, Ronnie’s appetite for food shrinks. She soon becomes unrecognizable—inside and out. And while navigating the giddy highs and miserable lows of this so-called perfect world, Ronnie discovers what she should have known all along: it’s not the size of your body that matters, but the size of your heart.

Wise, witty, and compassionate, this stunning debut novel speaks to anyone who has ever engaged in the battle of the bulge—or the exasperatingly elusive pursuit of perfection.

Andrea Rains Waggener left a career in law to pursue a career in writing. She is now a writer of fiction and nonfiction. Her book Healthy, Wealthy, & Wise--52 Life-Changing Lessons for the 21st Century comes out in February 2005 from Hazeldon. Her weekly newspaper column, "The Up Beat"--which appears in The Daily World in Aberdeen, Washington--has inspired people for over five years to live an upbeat life. She has also struggled with the weight issue herself, ranging in her adult life from a size 8 to a size 26. (She is currently a size 12.) She lives with her husband and dog near the coast in Washington State.