In this article, I employ illness narrative theory to analyze Emma Woolf’s recovery from anorexia through autobiographical writing. This is a novel approach, insomuch as anorexia memoirs focusing on recovery are a rare phe- 10 nomenon, as are their analyses. This essay narrows this gap by exploring Woolf’s articulation of anorexia recovery through a phenomenological perspective, using the concept
... [Show full abstract] of “recognition.” I employ this notion in three different ways: to mean (1) that memoir writing 15 provides Woolf with a sense of self-recognition about the difference of her anorexia; (2) that it allows her to achieve a sense of recognition from others about her struggles; and (3) that it enables her to develop a sense of recognition of other sufferers, encouraging the author to incor- 20 porate pro-recovery content in her piece, An Apple a Day. The analysis therefore proposes that this memoir is potentially bibliotherapeutic for readers with anorexia.
