The Fat Girl

Well done, Corgi - at last, a paperback version of The Fat Girl. The book is deservedly popular - it has a message to communicate and does it well. Jeff, handsome, worldly and arrogant, adopts 'the fat girl'- Ellen de Luca - as a cause; he's determined to turn her away from her talk of suicide. The real motivating factor, however, is Ellen's open adoration of him - a powerful drug he cannot resist. Jeff becomes increasingly uneasy as Ellen begins to lose weight and gain friends and self-confidence. His attempts to control and manipulate her lose ground, culminating in her rejection of the exotic golden gown he has bought for her to wear at the High School Prom. He wanted her to be different - a goddess; she after years of rejection because she was so unlike everyone else, chose another dress -- and, ultimately another boyfriend. The book is about male manipulation, insensitivity, control - the moral is direct and hard-hitting. An essential buy; as a part of GCSE wider reading programme or as a class set for the third-year upwards.