My  guest today is Laura Freeman.Laura is an art critic, a writer and an author.Her book which came out earlier this year called The Reading Cure is a very brave and thoughtful memoir about how reading about food helped her on her road to recovery from anorexia.Laura is a truly excellent writer – having gained a double first from Cambridge and her book has had an amazing reaction.A review in the independent said of her book :“The Reading Cure is the work of a true-blue bibliophile, and it's impossible not to be seduced by Freeman's love of prose. It's essential reading not just for those who love food, but words.”This was a different kind of chat in many ways – but one that I think it really important and really interesting. We do all have different relationships with food and I think its important to explore them and to talk about them and I learnt a lot from Laura plus there are some delicious goodies in here too.Food is so much more than just the food itself – which is what this podcast talks about a lot -  I for one - remember my life through the meals I’ve eaten and the best moments with friends, or celebrating happy occasions or holidays are often centred around meals, around food and it’s such a central character in the story of so many of our lives. However, it’s wrong to think that everyone’s relationship with food is straight forwards and obviously everyone is different – there is no completely shared experience.  Laura has struggled with her appetite for food but her appetite for reading never went away and ultimately it was this that saved her and that makes for an incredibly interesting read and a very different outlook on food which I hope you will enjoy! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.