Delphine de Vigan’s debut novel, Días sin hambre (originally published in French as Jours sans faim under the pseudonym Lou Delvig), is widely considered by literary critics and readers alike as one of the best, most authentic explorations of anorexia ever written. Unlike sensationalised media depictions that treat eating disorders as superficial phases or mere physical conditions, de Vigan approaches the subject with a clinical yet deeply poetic precision.

De Vigan writes with a chilling clarity. She does not ask for pity; she demands to be seen. The reader is forced to witness the mundane horrors: the coldness that never leaves the bones, the lanugo hair that grows to protect the freezing body, the social isolation.

No represents the absolute zero point of society—visible yet ignored, existing without a safety net. Lou, conversely, comes from a middle-class background but suffers from an invisible poverty of emotional connection. In trying to "save" No, Lou attempts to fix the broken parts of her own life that she cannot name. She projects her own need for salvation onto No.

In the vast landscape of contemporary French literature, few voices resonate with as much raw, unflinching humanity as . While she has penned several masterpieces—from the metafictional Nada se opone a la noche to the haunting Basada en hechos reales —there is one novel that continues to surface as the gateway drug for new readers and the perennial favorite for long-time fans: Días sin hambre .

When she published the novel in France in 2001, she did so under the pseudonym , a decision driven by fear. She was terrified of her father's reaction to this public airing of family trauma. It was a protective measure, an attempt to shield her loved ones from the rawness of her confession. Even with this disguise, the publication caused a rift. Her father, feeling exposed, reacted with anger, proving that the most dangerous person in a crisis-ridden family might indeed be the writer in its midst.

A central arc of the book is Laure's struggle to "re-inhabit" her own body and accept it as something that can again feel desire and life.

The novel details her subsequent three-month hospital confinement. Unlike traditional biographies that focus on the chaotic spiral downward, De Vigan chooses to focus on the grueling, slow-motion journey of . Over the course of her isolation, Laure interacts with two primary forces that reshape her reality:

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The question of whether Días sin hambre can be considered Delphine de Vigan's best work is subjective, but its importance in her bibliography is undeniable. While other novels have brought her greater fame—such as No y yo (2007), a compassionate look at homelessness through the eyes of a gifted teenager, and Nada se opone a la noche (2011), a monumental investigation into her mother's suicide—none are as direct or as nakedly personal as her debut.