February 15, 2024
Beatrice, called Beans, lost her mom when she was a teenager. Her subsequent battle with anorexia would require management for the rest of her life, but her work as a therapist helps keep things in perspective. When a mysterious woman arrives at Beans' practice to tell her that her mother is alive and in danger, Beans embarks on a journey to find her and learn why her own early life is shrouded in mystery. Beans' cross-country trip is interspersed with memories of her younger years, particularly at the height of her eating disorder. Painful recollections paired with present intrigue result in a nonlinear and emotionally mismatched narrative, but Schwartz imbues every page of her debut novel with a sense of purpose and catharsis. (She also opens the book with a content warning about the unvarnished realities of severe anorexia and other sensitive subject matter.) Fans of Yara Zgheib's The Girls at 17 Swann Street (2019), Sharon Harrigan's Half (2020), and Jennette McCurdy's memoir, I'm Glad My Mom Died (2022), will appreciate Beans' struggles and triumphs.
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