the conversation
PARIS – For nearly fifty years, Sara Somers suffered from untreated food addiction. In “Saving Sara” (She Writes Press, May 12, 2020) Somers’ intimate memoir, she offers readers an inside view of a food addict's mind, showcasing her experiences with obsessive cravings, compulsivity, and powerlessness regarding food, with the hopes of educating her readers and promoting life-saving conversations between loved ones and those suffering with addiction.
“Saving Sara” chronicles Somers’s addiction from childhood to adulthood, beginning with abnormal eating as a nine-year-old. As her addiction progresses in young adulthood, she becomes isolated, masking her shame and self-hatred with drugs and alcohol. Time and again, she rationalizes why this time will be different, only to have her physical cravings lead to ever-worse binges, to see her promises of doing things differently next time broken, and to experience the amnesia that she –like every addict– experiences when her obsession sets in again.
Even after Somers is introduced to the solution that will eventually end up saving her, the strength of her addiction won't allow her to accept her disease. Twenty-six more years pass until she finally finds her way back to that solution.
A raw account of Somers’ decades-long journey, “Saving Sara” underscores the challenges faced by food addicts of any age – and the hope that exists for them all.
“Read Saving Sara to see how bad [addiction] can get before it gets great – and find out just how she did it, so you can do it too. What a great read!”
– Judy Collins, New York Times bestselling author of Cravings
In an interview, SARA SOMERS can discuss:
Why she decided to chronicle her experiences with addiction into a memoir and how personal stories can be used to educate and heal others
Why food addiction is often viewed differently from other addictions and how she hopes to change the perception of food addiction
What the symptoms of food addiction are and why they may go unnoticed
What options are out there to help addicts heal, and how to keep hope when you feel like you've already "tried everything"
How those who haven’t suffered from addiction can support and stand in solidarity with those who have
Personal stories of food addiction in ‘Saving Sara’ help readers better understand addiction
“A riveting and deeply human memoir."
– Anne Lamott, California Hall of Fame inductee, novelist, and nonfiction writer
SARA SOMERS suffered from food addiction from age nine to age fifty-eight; she has been in food recovery since 2005. In a double life of sorts, Somers worked as a licensed psychotherapist in the San Francisco Bay Area for thirty-four years. After finding recovery, Somers moved to Paris, France, where she currently lives. She writes a blog called Out My Window: My Life in Paris. When she’s not writing, Somers volunteers at the American Library in Paris, enjoys the cinema, reads prolifically, and follows her favorite baseball team, the Oakland Athletics. Most importantly, Somers devotes time each day to getting the word out about food addiction and helping other food addicts. “Saving Sara” is her first book. To learn more about Sara and her work, visit www.saving-sara.org.
Why she decided to chronicle her experiences with addiction into a memoir and how personal stories can be used to educate and heal others
Why food addiction is often viewed differently from other addictions and how she hopes to change the perception of food addiction
What the symptoms of food addiction are and why they may go unnoticed
What options are out there to help addicts heal, and how to keep hope when you feel like you've already "tried everything"
How those who haven’t suffered from addiction can support and stand in solidarity with those who have
Personal stories of food addiction in ‘Saving Sara’ help readers better understand addiction
“A riveting and deeply human memoir."
– Anne Lamott, California Hall of Fame inductee, novelist, and nonfiction writer
SARA SOMERS suffered from food addiction from age nine to age fifty-eight; she has been in food recovery since 2005. In a double life of sorts, Somers worked as a licensed psychotherapist in the San Francisco Bay Area for thirty-four years. After finding recovery, Somers moved to Paris, France, where she currently lives. She writes a blog called Out My Window: My Life in Paris. When she’s not writing, Somers volunteers at the American Library in Paris, enjoys the cinema, reads prolifically, and follows her favorite baseball team, the Oakland Athletics. Most importantly, Somers devotes time each day to getting the word out about food addiction and helping other food addicts. “Saving Sara” is her first book. To learn more about Sara and her work, visit www.saving-sara.org.
