Beautifully written and ultimately uplifting…
“For the last three years, my daughter has been slowly dying. Although she is sixteen, she weighs as much as an eight-year-old. We have tried everything the medical system has to offer – psychologists, psychiatrists, family therapists, dieticians, drugs … but nothing has worked. And now here we are, she and I, flying to the other side of the world in a last-ditch effort to save her.
Anorexia is a difficult thing to get people to understand. Usually, when I try to explain it, they will look at me incredulously. Sometimes they will come right out and say what I know they are thinking: Why can’t you just get her to eat?”
Beautifully written and ultimately uplifting, this story sheds light on one of the most insidious and dangerous mental conditions afflicting modern society today.
WINNER OF THE FINCH MEMOIR PRIZE 2017
This is an amazing book. I was absolutely absorbed by it. The honesty of it - it’s so compelling, so raw…..It’s a brilliant book, not just because of the story but because of the writing. The writing is magnificent.
Wendy Harmer, Mornings, ABC Radio
Welcome!
Thanks for stopping by.
I’m fascinated by people’s stories of how they deal with challenges and adversity in their lives.
My memoir, Cold Vein tells the story of how I dealt with the challenge of my daughter’s anorexia. I wrote this memoir partly to process the trauma of those years, but also to shed light on the impact of this deadly disease on sufferers and those who love them.
I was born and raised in Leura, in the beautiful Blue Mountains of Australia. For many years, I worked as a lawyer in Sydney, but my real dream was always to be a writer. So that’s the path I’m pursuing now!
Reviews
“I found myself reading with my breath held as the narrator reported on the disintegration of her family’s life as her daughter disappeared figuratively and literally under the savages of anorexia.”
Maggie Mackellar
author of When it Rains and Graft
“This is a frank account of how Tonner, Chloe and her husband fought for Chloe’s life...the tug-of war between mother and daughter, the parental guilt and affect on the family…a grim subject, an uplifting ending.”
Steve Carroll
Spectrum, Sydney Morning Herald
“Cold Vein is harrowing, intense, absorbing and compelling. I defy anyone to read it without shedding a tear….”
Rowena Morcom
Good Reading magazine
“Tough, honest, emotionally engaging and well-written….”
Suzanne Falkiner
Author of Mick: A Life of Randolph Stow