A review by R J Dent
Feed The Need
by Amanda Hodgson
Amanda Hodgson’s Feed The Need is a book of seven stories that focus on eating disorders, food cravings, hunger, comfort eating, and the psychological and the physical need to feed.
The stories in Feed The Need are one-word titles. With the exceptions of ‘Perfection’ and ‘Succour’, the titles are the names of each story’s protagonist. In this collection we meet ‘Cathy’, ‘Meryl’, ‘Lily’, ‘Shemla’, and ‘Gemma’. Ms Hodgson introduces us to their complicated lives and shows us their food-related strategies for coping with a harsh and complex world.
The best stories in this moving collection shake themselves free of traditional endings and give the protagonists the expansiveness of the interior life, the poetry of feeling, and the blurred edges of personality.
There are cautionary tales here; there are celebratory stories here; there are horror stories here. The stories in Feed The Need are not kind or friendly. They are not escapist fictions. They are, according to the author, ‘Seven sour stories about eating’. It’s an apt description, because these stories will sink their teeth into you and continue to hold on long after you’ve finished reading.
Be warned.
Feed The Need is available at:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00ZARMJMA?%2AVersion%2A=1&%2Aentries%2A=0
and at:
Feed The Need
by Amanda Hodgson
A review by R J Dent
Copyright © R J Dent (2015)
R J Dent 