My book is one of 243 LGBT ebook and print book prizes in the Rainbow Awards 2012 Treasure Hunt created by Elisa Rolle.
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The book
Other people’s diaries
Lesbian disordered eating
I like it when you …
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Author Archives: Natasha Holme
Imagine you find someones diary… Are you the kind of person that would be unable to respect their privacy? Would you want to at least skim it for juicy details? Well I guess that’s me. I had just intended to check out the first chapter or two, but before I knew it, I found that I could not stop snooping in on the author’s life!
I also agree with another reviewer that pointed out how well this ‘diary’ was written. It contains fragments and snippets and is obviously very informal, but the author’s way of presenting the pieces of this story still manage to flow like a novel. I found myself invested in her story. At several points I wanted to slap Alex and help the author forget all about her!
[…] I’m impressed with the author’s ability to put it all out there, and her story telling is engaging.
An utterly honest account of bulimia. Novels and biographies about eating disorders so often make the condition appear dramatic, exciting and glamourous. This diary does not. It tells of the repetative daily struggle, the depression, and the gruesome, unglamourous physical effects of the condition. I have never been confronted with such raw frankness when reading about this condition. This is a story that everyone needs to read, so that people understand that this condition is undignified, painful and hellish, not something glamourous or enviable. My sincere congratulations to the author for her bravery in sharing her story which could change many people’s lives. I believe that this book has the power to jolt some people out of the addictive cycle, because the reader can’t escape the gritty reality on the page. This book has the power to save lives.
I am a lesbian/bisexual myself, so the sexuality part of the diary also appealed to me (as it really resonated with the obsessive crushes I experienced when I first came out). However, if you are not gay or bi this part of the diary may not appeal to you as much. I urge readers who find the lesbian aspect of the diary less captivating to continue reading because the bulimia-related diary entries are, as I said, invaluable reading for people with bulimia whose motivation for recovery is waning.
This book really reminds you why you are ‘staying clean’ and fighting so hard for recovery.
This book could change your life. I really believe it could. Read it!
Excellent read! I love the way the author was able to bring me into her world by making me feel like I was sneaking into her diary while actually carrying me through her story. There is a true story line and a definitive end. This is a great book to recommend for anyone battling with an eating disorder or with their sexuality. I was able to relate to some of the author’s experiences which brought me further into the book. It’s not easy to bear your heart and soul but the author has done an amazing job at letting the reader feel her happiness and hurt with her too.
Historian and Editor of 'The Secret Diaries of Miss Anne Lister'
As the editor of the Anne Lister journals I was amazed when I found Natasha Holme’s book. I learned that, like Anne Lister (1791-1840), Natasha has been an obsessive diarist from her early teenage years. But the startling fact is that, again like Anne Lister, Natasha wrote in a secret code of her own devising. This marked her out, to me, as a modern-day Anne Lister. Natasha’s account of her struggle to realise her lesbian sexuality and to deal with her eating disorder makes for an interesting, honest and sometimes painful read. I contacted her and, finding that she has many more years of her diairies yet to be published, I feel that a discerning literary agent might well find it rewarding to take up the challenge of getting them published. Like Anne Lister, from whose diaries I have published two books from which two documentaries and a film have been made, Natasha’s story could, I believe, become the subject of a film. It is my belief that her work on her own life may well make her a ‘name’ in the world of lesbian writing.
What a fascinating insight into the life of a young girl at university, struggling with both her weight/eating and her sexuality. It really opened my eyes to a world that I really know nothing about, while I have felt unhappy about my weight sometimes and wish it was easier to lose those last few pounds I could never bring myself to use the extreme measures that Natasha relied on. It really helped to raise my awareness about eating disorders and how people who suffer from them might be feeling. I will be keenly awaiting the 2nd book.
How do you review someone’s diary? It’s really hard to do. I alternately want to shake the author, and hug her. I found it utterly fascinating and compelling. It’s an interesting look at someone discovering their sexuality. I don’t really know how to review it but I am glad that Natasha was willing to share her troubles and her life with us.
The Lesbian and Gay Foundation in Manchester will be hosting Womens’ Pride, an event forming part of the Manchester Pride Fringe, at Number 5, Richmond Street, Manchester M1 3HF.
Tell LGF which women you think have made a significant contribution to the LGBT rights movement in the last 100 years?
The event will celebrate the significant but over-looked role all women have played throughout the history of the LGBT rights movement and explore how women can continue to contribute positively towards this movement. LGF’s mission is: Ending Homophobia, Empowering People.
For further information, email frankie.stevens@nulllgf.org.uk.
Gay people are still struggling to come out, are ridiculed, attacked, and killed for our sexuality. Why is this? It is apparently the word of God that homosexual acts are sinful. Homosexuality is mentioned six times in the Bible. I want to take a look at two aspects of this:
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For the love of lesbian diary-writing …
As a lesbian and a devoted diarist, I was thrilled to discover in 1989 the original (1988) publication of this book, I Know My Own Heart: The Diaries of Anne Lister, 1791-1840. At a time when lesbian books were few, this was a godsend and I lapped up every word.
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