Skinny

“Skinnywill be my go-to recommendation all year for anyone who wants smart, endearing,beautifully written women's fiction." —Allison Winn Scotch, New York Times bestselling author of TheOne That I Want and Time of My Life

"Spechler…transcends melodrama and clichewith striking sensitivity and delicate touch." —Boston Globe

To escape thegrief she feels following her fathers death, twenty-six year old Brooklynite Gray Lachmann becomesa counselor at a summer camp for overweight children, where she discovers shehas her own demons to battle both emotionally and physically. In Skinny, the ambitious, accomplished, anddarkly  humorous second novel fromreader-favorite Diana Spechler—author of Who ByFire and acontributor to Rumpus Women Volume 1—a vividly realized cast of characters mustcome to terms with eating disorders, buried secrets, and the trials of growingup.

“Add me to what is sure to be a very long list of Diana Spechler fans. Skinny will be my go-to recommendation all year for anyone who wants smart, endearing, beautifully written womens fiction.” Allison Winn Scotch, New York Times bestselling author of < i=""> The One That I Want <> and < i=""> Time of My Life <>

“Diana Spechler writes like a dream. In Skinny, she masterfully explores the relationship between food and pain, between love and heartbreak. And what Spechler most magically captures is the elusive feeling of longing. And how, on its other side, we sometimes find what we needed all along.” Laura Dave, author of < i=""> The Divorce Party <> and < i=""> London Is The Best City in America <>

“Spechlers meditation on the nature of hunger is both touching and surprising, as Skinny boldly explores the connection between our emotional and physical appetites. Her characters and their stories stayed with me long after I put her book down.” Janelle Brown, bestselling author of < i=""> All We Ever Wanted Was Everything <> and < i=""> This Is Where We Live <>

After her fathers death, twenty-six-year-old Gray Lachmann findsherself compulsively eating. Desperate to stop bingeing, she abandonsher life in New York City for a job at a southern weight-losscamp. There, caught among the warring egos of her devious co-counselor,Sheena; the self-aggrandizing camp director, Lewis; his attractive assistant,Bennett; and a throng of combative teenage campers, she is confronted by acaptivating mystery: her teenage half-sister, Eden, whom Gray never knewexisted. Now, while unraveling her fathers lies, Gray must tackle her ownself-deceptions and take control of her body and her life.

Visceral, poignant, and often wickedly funny, Skinny illuminates a youngwomans struggle to make sense of the link between hunger and emotion, andto make peace with her demons, her body, and herself.

Diana Spechler received her MFA from the University of Montana and was a Steinbeck Fellow at San José State University from 2004 to 2005. Her fiction has appeared in Glimmer Train Stories, Moment, Lilith, and elsewhere. She lives in New York City.