By Mike Noble
The titles of both this collection of essays and the essays themselves suggest a book of anecdotes with associated recipes, much like Kristen Beddard’s memoir, “Bonjour Kale,” a delightful tale of her effort to reestablish that vegetable’s place on French dinner tables.
Not so. Each essay in this collection by Waitsfield resident Erika Nichols-Frazer, 33, uses an item of food as a jumping off point to describe an event or period in the author’s journey from childhood to her late 20s -- a period in which she moved through severe periods of anorexia, depression and undiagnosed bipolar disorder while being raised by accomplished, but alcoholic, parents. Profoundly affected by these health issues, she manages to graduate from college, earn a master’s degree, marry, separate and then reunite with her husband.
This synopsis barely touches the surface of a difficult life described with brutal clarity, beautifully written.
Why read a collection of essays on this subject matter? If you are someone who cares about people or who has a family member, a relative or a friend who struggles with any of these problems, this book is very likely to provide you with helpful insights and hard facts about what they deny or try to face. You are also very likely to come away with insights into your own being.
“Feed Me” is about life’s most powerful nutrients: understanding; acceptance and love.
Everyone should read this book. And it really should be reviewed by the New York Times and run in long form or chapters in The Atlantic and the New Yorker. It is being published in September 2022 by Holbrooke House and will be launched at the Burlington Book Festival.
Noble is an avid reader and retired communications professional who lives in Warren.
