Before We Were Blue

Shoshana Winnick and Rowan Parish meet in a treatment center for eating disorders, where recovery is measured through rules, supervision and small changes in freedom. Shoshana’s life as a televised cheerleader and Rowan’s long experience with disordered eating have brought them there by different routes. Their growing closeness offers comfort amid the strain of treatment, and Rowan’s feelings begin to move beyond friendship. But the bond that helps them endure the center can also make change feel like a threat. Going home would mean separation as well as confronting the pressures waiting outside. The novel explores the difficult boundary between supporting someone and holding one another inside patterns neither can afford to keep.