Dr Bellavit’s questions were frank. How much did I expel? And how often? And what is the colour? The texture? Is there pain? And how would you describe that pain – is it an ache, a stabbing, a burning? Is it dull or exquisite? Is there ever blood? How much? When you eat something – poppy seeds, say, or the skin on a plum – how long does it take to reappear?

I gave my answers and Dr Bellavit wrote them down, nodding, taking her time.

She said, ‘I cannot say I am surprised. I can tell by looking in your face – the whites of your eyes look off. And if you could open your mouth – ah yes, there’s a white fur on your tongue. I can see the vessels in your temples. Your gums are too pink. All the signs are there.’

‘Of what?’ I asked, though I knew what she would say.

‘Toxicity,’ she said.

She told me I had been poisoning myself. There was too much in my body. Too much bad food, bad air, atmospheric poison, emotional distress, too much unspent energy. I was blocked.

‘These things build up, turn into toxic substances – your blood becomes acidic. Expulsion is what you need.’

I didn’t say anything at first. I was imagining my blood as something quick and toxic, like mercury.

Dr Bellavit was staring straight into my eyes.

‘It does worry you, doesn’t it?’ she said. ‘All the things you’re carrying?’

I said yes. I said that I could feel the weight of things inside me. I said it felt like concrete had been poured into my stomach, my heart chambers, my ribcage, and left to set. I began to cry – to really cry, hot tears wetting my cheeks and making dark spots on my shirt.

‘Good girl,’ said Dr Bellavit. She rose from the desk and came around to where I was sitting, pulling my head into the softness of her belly.

‘Hush, Thomasina. It’s quite all right. We’ll get it all out, don’t you worry. You’ll be amazed by what will come out!’

The first phase of the expulsion cure lasted one week.

We had been warned before arriving that the first week was when most people failed. This was the time when the body was purged of the initial poisons circulating in the bloodstream, prior to the work of purification, of resetting the appetite.