Flabyrinth by Jules Coll Book Launch

Funny, filthy and uplifting account of one woman’s quest to leave body insecurity behind

‘Get out of my head Jules! An unapologetic, brutally honest read with a few giggles along the way ...loved it,’ Jen Zamparelli.
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Laughed out loud, been close to tears …. I’d give it 5 Star Bars!’ Mairead Ronan

Jules Coll launched her new book Flabyrinth: My Escape From Maximum Insecurity Prison on Tuesday, 30 August at House Dublin on Leeson St. At the launch were Damo and Ivor creator Andy Quirke, actress Eimear Morrissey, beauty journalist Triona McCarthy, actor Enda Oates, tenor Paul Byrom, journalist and soon to be author Sophie White, up and coming rockstar Andrew Mann and Keywest band members. Guest sipped on the ‘Flabyrinth Cocktail’, a delicious cava rosé served in a martini glass, as Jules’ personal trainer Matt Keatley officially launched the book and paid tribute to the hard work Jules put in to shedding over 9 stone since her gastric-bypass surgery last year, going on to write Flabyrinth to share her story. Check out our Facebook album of the launch.

Jules Coll is 37 years old, Dublin born, bred and buttered and as single as a microwave meal for one, she has never had a boyfriend, calls herself Ireland’s Bridget Jones and will already be known to many for her RTÉ Documentary ‘Nine Stone Lighter’, the story of the gastric-bypass surgery she underwent in 2015 after tipping the scales at 19 stone. Did all Jules’s insecurities disappear along with her weight loss? Was she beating guys off with a stick? In Flabyrinth we discover that Jules’ weight loss was just the beginning of her journey to self-acceptance.

Confident, capable, fun-loving and determined Jules is someone who makes things happen, but, unfortunately she is followed everywhere by Siobhán, her inner bad bitch, the perfect version of herself who lives inside her head and is constantly telling her she is not good enough.

Jules’s shares her journey from self-loathing to self-love via a happy but junk-food obsessed childhood (prepare for hilarious, nostalgic reminisces about the school cake sale, Black Jacks, Stinger Bars and Findus Crispy Pancakes), snogging her way through secondary school consumed by an obsession with her appearance (cue more hilarious, nostalgic reminiscing about Egypt Wonder blusher, black velvet hairbands and platform shoes), before it all started to go wrong during the college years and a Greek Island summer odyssey that saw her begin to pile on the pounds.

As the dynamic Jules confidently strides into the working world, transforming from make-up artist to Susan Boyle impersonator to hat maker to Reiki Master, then finally screenwriter and producer of Damo and Ivor, her weight is the one part of her life that seems completely out of control - until she decides to take drastic action. Only then does Jules begin to scratch the surface of dealing with the emotional issues she believes were at the root of her negative relationship with food.

She finally starts to find her way out of the Flabyrinth when it dawns on her that she must silence Siobhán and give up her unattainable dreams of perfection. Here Jules’ shares her journey from fat to flawsome (i.e. an individual who embraces her flaws and knows that she is awesome regardless!). For every girl who’s ever looked in the mirror and felt crap, Flabyrinth is testimony to the fact that if the insecurities that seem to be etched in the DNA of every woman cannot be silenced, they can be kept to a minimum. It’s a hilariously, refreshing and honest take on what it feels like to be a girl.

About the author:

Jules Coll is the talented co-writer and producer of RTÉ 2’s comedy TV show Damo & Ivor, and the subject of the hit RTÉ prime-time documentary Nine Stone Lighter, which followed her journey as she underwent weight-loss surgery and transformed her body and life, morphing from 19 stone and a size 22 to 10 stone and a size 10. She has since gained a huge online following and represents a refreshing voice for women everywhere.

Catch up with Jules on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and julescarbonara on Snapchat.

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Check out some of the Flabyrinth launch photos below or visit our Facebook page for the full album here.