Losing weight has become the modern woman's Holy Grail.' Everything will be better when we're thin. In the 21st century, being thin, even more than being rich or happy, sends a clear message of success to the outside world. No wonder then that disordered eating is on the rise and we're increasingly unhappy with our bodies.

The Ministry of Thin takes a controversial, unflinching look at how our desire to lose weight is out of control; at the widespread depression that results, the tyranny of celebrity culture and the dangerous extremes - including drip-diets and cosmetic surgery - to which we will go to be skinny. From those who would like to be a few pounds lighter to those who starve or binge in secret, we are all affected. How did we get to the point where we hate our own bodies? And is it futile to hope that we might one day be able to like ourselves again, just as we are?

By the author of An Apple a Day: A Memoir of Love and Recovery from Anorexia, also available from Audible.