Provocatively written for impact, while often shockingly funny, Mona Awad explores body image, societal expectations of size and fatness, and coping (or not) with the need for thinness and acceptance in her Giller-nominated novel, 13 Ways of Looking at a Fat Girl. Over 13 vignettes, Awad relates snapshots from Lizzie’s life starting from her teenage years and moving into adulthood as she learns to navigate friendships, family relationships, love, lust, along with her relationships with her own body, food, and fitting into personal and wider expectations. 13 Ways is a debut novel for Awad and will leave you thinking about the ways culture creates value for people, bodies, and how unkind we may be to ourselves. – JP
