Cold Vein
Beautifully written and ultimately uplifting…
Gripping from the start, Anne Tonner's memoir Cold Vein lays bare the hold anorexia took on her daughter, her family, and her marriage. Never sentimental, yet utterly compelling and heartbreaking, this raw account traces the lengths one woman, one family, will go to save their daughter Chloe; and the girl they know is still within.
Anne is taken to the brink over and over again. Fighting an invisible opponent that won't release its grip on her daughter, anorexia almost brings both her family and her marriage down with her daughter. Through her writing, we experience something of her torment, her agony, her pain - but her growth and ultimate victory too.
Completely eye-opening to those unfamiliar with the experience and treatment of anorexia, or indeed the warning signs, Anne's openness, courage and tenacity will not just shake the stereotypes, but by mapping her own heart and struggles, we navigate our own compassion and understanding of others and ourselves.
A truly deserving Finch Memoir Prize Winner.
Reviews
“This is an amazing book. I was absolutely absorbed by it. The honesty of it - it’s so compelling, so raw…..It’s a brilliant book, not just because of the story but because of the writing. The writing is magnificent”.
Wendy Harmer
Mornings, ABC Radio 2 June 2017
“This is an important memoir. It lays bare the powerlessness of a family in the face of a chronic disease. The loss of identity, the obsession with saving a child, the sacrifice, the guilt over neglected siblings, a marriage placed under enormous strain--all of this relentlessly builds to a crescendo of a story about survival. Many readers will relate to this book and find in it a source of hope that someone has been before them. This knowledge of itself is powerful."
Maggie Mackellar
author of When it Rains and Graft
“This is a frank account of how Tonner, (her daughter) Chloe and her husband fought for Chloe’s life. The scenes in Stockholm are vivid.: observing the subtle strategies of the doctors making Chloe feel she’s in charge, the tug-of war between mother and daughter, the parental guilt and effect on the family, the steps back and forth, but all the time, slow, steady progress……A grim subject, an uplifting ending.”
Steve Carroll
Spectrum, Sydney Morning Herald
“Cold Vein is harrowing, intense, absorbing and compelling. I defy anyone to read it without shedding a tear….”
Rowena Morcom
Good Reading magazine
“Tough, honest, emotionally engaging and well-written….”
Suzanne Falkiner
Author of Mick: A Life of Randolph Stow
Media & Podcasts
ABC Sydney - A mother's fight to save her daughter from the grip of anorexia
ABC Radio National - Cold Vein: Anorexia, the monster within
Mamamia - Anne Tonner watched her daughter suffer from Anorexia for years
Australian Writers' Centre - Ep 181 Meet 2017 Finch Memoir Prize winner Anne Tonner, author of 'Cold Vein'
Hope 103.2 - Winning The Battle Against Anorexia: Anne Tonner, author of 'Cold Vein'
RadioPublic - Anne Tonner on parenting a child with anorexia from It Takes A Village
Books+Publishing - Tonner wins Finch Memoir Prize for ‘Cold Vein’
‘Anne's memoir, Cold Vein is a touching account of her family's struggle with anorexia.’
ABC Life Matters