On the Spectrum by Jennifer Gold is a book that covers various topics in only about 230 pages. Readers get to learn about the city of love (Paris), join Clara’s journey in founding love with Michel, her relationship with her autistic brother Alastair , and dealing with an eating disorder.
‘Human experience is not nest and orderly, ready to be coded into predetermined categories. Real life is messy,” Jennifer Gold
Jennifer Gold says this, relating to the book because…….
Clara’s mom is a ballerina always worried about her looks and being skinny enough, everyone thinks that this is fine and “orderly,” but the truth is this is a eating disorder. Clara growing up with her single mother, now also has that eating disorder. She isn’t properly diagnosed but she deals with orthorexia.
Dealing with all of this became too much so she decided to take up her dads offer to spend the summer with him, his wife, and younger brother in Paris. Her brother Alastair is on the autism spectrum. Clara takes her brother and together they explore the city of Paris.
While exploring the city, Clara meets Michel. While the story’s main focus was her younger brother, the love aspect added a bit of drama and romance to it. Many readers do not think that this was really necessary. Michel was an important side character but was making them fall for eachother the right ending. Since Paris is “the city of love”, I’d say that this young love put the novel over the top.
Michel is also a chef and he helps Clara notice her love for food and helps her get over her disorder. People may not realize it, but counting calories and watching what your eating does have its side effects. You may stay fit, but it can cause other problems, a little junk food won’t hurt you.
I would DEFINITELY recommend this book to a friend.
Spoiler Alert 