Hungry: A biography of my body by Katriona O’Sullivan

Katriona O’Sullivan has come a long way from the poverty, chaos and abuse she knew growing up. A respected academic and bestselling author, she defied every expectation placed on the teenage mother she once was.

Yet even as the accolades arrived, old beliefs held fast.

No degree, no award, no recognition could silence the sense that she was only worthy when her body looked the way society said it should.

In this fierce and fearless memoir, Katriona pulls back the curtain on her journey: the relentless comparison to the curated bodies of strangers on the internet, the dangerous weight-loss treatments, the attempts to reshape herself into an impossible ideal – and how she slowly learned to accept and love herself.

Hungryis an unforgettable examination of how gender, class and trauma shape a woman’s sense of worth. It is one woman’s story – and a rallying cry for every woman who has ever felt she had to shrink to survive.