Yes, it’s fiction. It’s a side note in a British mystery novel, The Locked Room, by Elly Griffiths, published in 2022.
The novel is 14th in a series about forensic anthropologist Ruth Galloway and Detective Chief Inspector Harry Nelson. The books are part cozy mystery, part police procedural, and over time we have a supporting cast including their families and friends. The 13th novel was set at the end of 2019. The Locked Room is set in early 2020, and yes, it deals with Covid-19. Boris Johnson’s April 2020 Covid illness is mentioned.
That’s not the core mystery, of course. The core mystery is 50something women who appear to commit suicide…or do they? Why did a woman die in her bedroom while her ready-to-eat meal was ready in her microwave? How did another woman’s bedroom door become locked while she was inside?
What we eventually learn, and yes this is a spoiler is … they were all involved with the same slimming group, Lean Zone.
Also, the nice retired gentleman who belonged to Lean Zone who befriended and enjoyed getting coffee with members? He would worm into their lives, remind them that they’re not happy with their bodies – nay, with their entire lives – and suggest they take an overdose of sleeping pills. He even provided the pills! How thoughtful.
How evil.
The Locked Room is fiction, but it’s also very like our society in general. In our society, fat people are seen as strange, or bad, or misguided. Fat people earn less than “normal size” people. Fat people are less likely to be hired. Fat people often are given a “lose weight” lecture from medical personnel instead of being asked their symptoms. Fat people are exhorted and badgered and cajoled to lose weight. That said, fat people also have agency. We can choose to avoid trying for weight loss and live our lives anyway. We can insist on partners and friends who aren’t trying to change our size or shape; we can focus on activities and hobbies we enjoy; we can live happily ever after.
In The Locked Room, our main character Ruth – who has been a stone above what she thinks she should be since book 1 – goes to a Lean Zone meeting. That night, she starts writing her food diary for the day.
She sighs and thinks of Kelly saying Alison must have lost five stone. Of Zoe saying, ‘It’s how you feel inside.’ Of Nelson’s face when he asked, ‘Why would you want to lose weight?’
And she tears the page into tiny pieces. Then she puts the journal in the bin.
Living ~400lbs 