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Fiction
Paperback book with dust jacket
Stories of family dysfunction often expose us to relentless failure. And while Ravenous Girls is about the tensions and growing distance between two sisters—the elder burdened by anorexia, the younger by self-doubt—it is distinguished by its lithe and tender understanding of the complexities of growing up. Wonderfully expressive, Burton’s re-creation of 1980s family relationships is tuned to the quieter, more nuanced moods behind the fears and hopes of her characters.
‘This short novel about family dysfunction, the fickleness of teenage friendship, mother-daughter symbiosis, and illness, packs an almighty emotional punch... Chronicles of fictional family life don't always understand that trauma is most often multilayered, like scar tissue. Just how fully author Rebecca Burton graps this is evident in her delicate characterisation and sometimes heartbreaking plot.’
— The Guardian
‘Burton has written a vivid, intimate sketch of 1980s adolescence - and a clear-eyed reflection on the traumatic experience of loving someone with a severe eating disorder. Fuelled by emotion recollected in tranquillity, it's a coming-of-age story of remarkable compression, compassion and nuance.’
— Sydney Morning Herald & The Age
‘Ravenous Girls asks profound questions about our desires and needs: Why do we hunger for certain things? What happens when we either give in to our wants, or deny ourselves what we need? This is a short but thought-providing read, and well worth your time.’
— Novel Feelings
‘Ravenous Girls is a compassionate book that sensitively charts the emotional ups and downs that are part of the anorexia landscape... It also conveys something more generally relatable about family relationships – sisterhood and daughterhood, in particular – and about how darned hard it is to grow up.’
— Whispering Gums
Rebecca Burton is the author of two novels for young adults, LeavingJetty Road and Beyond Evie, both named as Notable Books by the Children’s Book Council of Australia. Leaving Jetty Road also won a Varuna Award for Manuscript Development and both books were published overseas. A former Senior Editor for the University of Adelaide Press, Rebecca now provides freelance editing and manuscript assessment services. More information about her work can be found at rebeccaburtoneditor.com.
Fiction
Paperback book with dust jacket
Stories of family dysfunction often expose us to relentless failure. And while Ravenous Girls is about the tensions and growing distance between two sisters—the elder burdened by anorexia, the younger by self-doubt—it is distinguished by its lithe and tender understanding of the complexities of growing up. Wonderfully expressive, Burton’s re-creation of 1980s family relationships is tuned to the quieter, more nuanced moods behind the fears and hopes of her characters.
‘This short novel about family dysfunction, the fickleness of teenage friendship, mother-daughter symbiosis, and illness, packs an almighty emotional punch... Chronicles of fictional family life don't always understand that trauma is most often multilayered, like scar tissue. Just how fully author Rebecca Burton graps this is evident in her delicate characterisation and sometimes heartbreaking plot.’
— The Guardian
‘Burton has written a vivid, intimate sketch of 1980s adolescence - and a clear-eyed reflection on the traumatic experience of loving someone with a severe eating disorder. Fuelled by emotion recollected in tranquillity, it's a coming-of-age story of remarkable compression, compassion and nuance.’
— Sydney Morning Herald & The Age
‘Ravenous Girls asks profound questions about our desires and needs: Why do we hunger for certain things? What happens when we either give in to our wants, or deny ourselves what we need? This is a short but thought-providing read, and well worth your time.’
— Novel Feelings
‘Ravenous Girls is a compassionate book that sensitively charts the emotional ups and downs that are part of the anorexia landscape... It also conveys something more generally relatable about family relationships – sisterhood and daughterhood, in particular – and about how darned hard it is to grow up.’
— Whispering Gums
Rebecca Burton is the author of two novels for young adults, LeavingJetty Road and Beyond Evie, both named as Notable Books by the Children’s Book Council of Australia. Leaving Jetty Road also won a Varuna Award for Manuscript Development and both books were published overseas. A former Senior Editor for the University of Adelaide Press, Rebecca now provides freelance editing and manuscript assessment services. More information about her work can be found at rebeccaburtoneditor.com.