'Underneath the Flesh' is the brave, honest and shocking account of a lifetime battle against morbid obesity and compulsive overeating. Betrayed by her abusive father and grieving for her late mother it was almost inevitable that a young Sandra would develop an addiction to conceal her pain. For Sandra the addiction was food. At her largest Sandra weighed 28 stone; her weight became a shield, protecting her from the grief she felt for a lost childhood. As well as her affection-less, austere and often brutal childhood, Sandra recounts the traumatic birth of her son Edward, her failed and loveless marriage and her desperate attempts to lose weight and beat her compulsion. Despite all these problems and a life of true hardship and pain, Sandra remains positive. This book ends on a note of hope, a light at the end of the tunnel and a victory for mind over matter. At a time when obesity is rarely out of the headlines, this is an extraordinarily strong, poignant and timely book.