Light as a Feather by Helen Dunne
Orla Kennedy, press officer in a City bank, is unhappy with her job and her weight. 'People always look at the wrapper first,' she explains, 'and in my case it's bubble wrap.' Of course, she knows how to lose those pounds - she just never gets around to doing it. Then her best friend Liz asks her to be a bridesmaid, and the threat of being swathed in pink satin makes Orla think blancmange! Spurred on by this prospect, she sets up a website chatroom, LightAsAFeather.co.uk, as a support group for 'larger ladies'. Things are going swimmingly until Orla is invited to appear on daytime television, and is persuaded to let a stick-thin model be her double. As if she doesn't have enough problems, her boyfriend Sebastian is behaving most oddly, and her brother, the chanting Buddhist, has decided to move in - permanently. But divine inspiration does come - from another, unexpected source...