Suzanne o'Sullivan: The Sleeping Beauties live at WOMAD

<p>Just before we dive back into&nbsp;&nbsp;a new series of food after the summer break, we’re back at <a href="https://womad.co.uk" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">WOMAD’s</a> <a href="https://womad.co.uk/words/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">World of Words</a> tent where Gilly chatted to&nbsp;<a href="https://wellcome.org" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Wellcome </a>prize winning neurologist , <a href="https://www.uclh.nhs.uk/our-services/find-consultant/dr-suzanne-osullivan" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Suzanne&nbsp;&nbsp;o'Sullivan</a> about her astonishing book <em>The</em> <a href="https://www.waterstones.com/book/the-sleeping-beauties/suzanne-osullivan/9781529010572" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><em>Sleeping Beauties</em></a><em>.</em></p><br><p>It’s her investigation of mystery illnesses, a wave of ‘mass hysteria’ in communities across the world. Terrifyingly, it’s affecting a growing number of people, usually children or adolescents and mostly girls who’ve lost hope for all sorts of sociopolitical reasons.&nbsp;From Cuba to Kazakhstan, Guyana to the most famous <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-41748485" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Swedish asylum seeking girls who have been asleep for years,</a> o'Sullivan explores how powerfully the body can communicate distress when no-one listens.&nbsp;This is a trip deep into the human psyche via misogyny, cultural imperialism and more than a little voodoo.&nbsp;&nbsp;And not a single mention of food in the hour of chat!&nbsp;</p><br><p><br></p><br><p>If you'd like to join in on my adventures in cookery, follow me @foodgillysmith on Instragram, and sign up! You can get 10% off the Essentials online course that I’m doing at Leiths online. Go to&nbsp;<a href="http://leithsonline.com/courses/essential-cooking" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">leithsonline.com/courses/essential-cooking</a>&nbsp;Click ‘enrol’ on course page and apply the code: GILLY10 at checkout:</p><br><p>And if