Staring Death in the Face

This is a real-life account of a family dealing with anorexia of one of its own. Sarah nearly died. She could have died at any time as her body had begun to shut down. The local medical services said that they had never come across anyone with such a low body mass index (weight) as hers. Sarah was heard screaming out as her body began to close down at death’s door. But by the grace of God, she miraculously survived.

The events are chronicled by the author, Sarah’s father; plus there is a very poignant additional contribution portrayal through the eyes of her sister Olivia too — together these sections paint the picture of what this family had to endure and complement each other.

This is a book which I am sure you will find hard to put down and will educate you not only as far as the illness of anorexia is concerned but also in seeing how it can be transcended.

Michael Prentice was born in 1961 in the heart of the Devonshire countryside. As a young man he attended the Tiverton Grammar School at the end of which he spent a year in the USA on a cultural exchange program. It was here that he first developed his taste for writing – producing regular articles for his local High School Journal.

Returning to England the following year he took up a place at Warwick University gaining an Honours Degree in Social Sciences in 1983. After this he gave up his place on a Master’s Degree to take up a job in restaurant management in London. Two years later he entered into the Police Service serving almost eight years before getting injured as is described in the book, prompting early retirement.

Michael returned to his native Devon which he loves so much in 1995 and settled down with his wife and had three children. He has had many articles published in newspapers, periodicals and poetry but Joe Bloggs Becomes A Christian was his first book. His second book entitled Staring Death in the Face which is about him being extremely close to losing his daughter through anorexia has come out at the same time as this book, published also by Austin Macauley Publishers.