Dietland author Sarai Walker: 'London is the most fat-shaming place I’ve been'

Her gleefully controversial debut novel concerns a 21-stone woman who joins a violent fightback against anti-fat attitudes. Sarai Walker talks about taking on the liberal werewolves – and why it’s time we stripped fat of its negative connotations

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Sarai Walker is fat. This is the first thing I notice as Skype connects and the author of Dietland flickers on to my computer screen. Sounds awful, doesn’t it? Calling someone fat – admitting that someone’s size is part of how you instinctively, well, size them up. That one syllable is so loaded with judgment that people tend to tiptoe around it, reaching for euphemisms: plump, plus-size, curvy, large.

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