Praise for the Previous Novels of Varley O'Connor
"Thoroughly researched and lively." --Vogue
"Elegantly wrought, hardheaded, and tenderhearted." --Michael Chabon
"Honesty and compassion inform every page, and there are passages so
musical and full of grace they read like hymns. Reading groups should
rejoice." --Sigrid Nunez
"[O'Connor] captures the dangerous intersection between private life
and the forces of history . . . and gives the reader that rare pleasure
of inhabiting another family life that feels at once entirely familiar
and new." --Susan Richards Shreve
Twelve-year-old Sarah Jacob was the most famous of the Victorian fasting
girls, who claimed to miraculously survive without food, serving as
flashpoints between struggling religious, scientific, and political
factions. In this novel based on Sarah's life and premature death from
what may be the first documented case of anorexia, an American
journalist, recovering from her husband's death in the Civil War, leaves
her home and children behind to travel to Wales, where she investigates
Sarah's bizarre case by becoming the young girl's friend and confidante.
Unable to prevent the girl's tragic decline while doctors, nurses, and a
local priest keep watch, she documents the curious family dynamic, the
trial that convicted Sarah's parents, and an era's hysterical need to
both believe and destroy Sarah's seemingly miraculous power.
Intense, dark, and utterly compelling, The Welsh Fasting Girl delves
into the complexities of a true story to understand how a culture's
anxieties led to the murder of a child.
Varley O'Connor is the author of five novels, including The Welsh
Fasting Girl, The Master's Muse, and The Cure. She lives in
Cleveland Heights, Ohio.
