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Description
In this wrenching debut memoir of love, family, and addiction, Liz Fraser tells her story of watching a partner unravel from alcoholism and working to rebuild a life together.
"My name is Liz, and I am the partner of an alcoholic."
This is the story of two people in love, who packed up their lives and drove a thousand miles across Europe in a transit van to the magical island of Venice, to start their new lives and dreams together and raise their baby girl there. They left behind everything they didn't need. But they also brought something terrible with them: alcoholism.
In the summer of 2019, Liz Fraser watched her husband fall into a catastrophic vortex of depression, alcoholism and self-destruction, which, unbeknownst to her, had been slowly bubbling and building for years. She was suddenly left alone with their baby, in a foreign country, renovating a house, and paying all the family bills along with his enormous drink-related costs. She worked when she could with no childcare or support, all while slowly losing her mind from shock, exhaustion, and heartbreak.
It was a long and lonely time before she met others who live, or have lived, with alcoholism or other substance abuse, whether a spouse, a partner, a child or friend, and found enormous relief in talking about it with people who could understand. In Coming Clean, Liz tells her story--of life with an alcoholic at his darkest moments, and the uncertain journey through recovery as her husband nears six months of sobriety. With this raw, wrenching memoir, she gives a voice and offers hope to everyone watching a loved one struggle with substance abuse with the crucial reminder: you are not alone.
Table of Contents
Introduction
Part One: Cambridge
Part Two: Venice
Part Three: Madness
Part Four: Scandinavia
Part Five: Shutting the Door
Part Six: The Eternal Chaos of the Broken Mind
Part Seven: Rock Bottom
Part Eight: Sobriety
Part Nine: Lockdown and Breakdown
Part Ten: Recovery
Epilogue
Resources
Product details

Published | Nov 30 2021 |
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Format | Hardback |
Edition | 1st |
Extent | 320 |
ISBN | 9781472986375 |
Imprint | Green Tree |
Dimensions | 9 x 6 inches |
Publisher | Bloomsbury Publishing |
About the contributors
Reviews
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Visceral and gripping.
Amy Liptrot, author of The Outrun
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Raw, unflinching, incredibly brave
Anita Rani, BBC Woman's Hour
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An extraordinary book – deeply painful and loving.
Adam Kay
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[Coming Clean] sheds light on the reverberating effects of addiction and sobriety in this glowing memoir that unravels her experience falling in – and at times, out of – love with an alcoholic ... Fraser illuminates the complexities of loving an addict and why she 'didn't run a mile' when his illness became apparent ... In the end, her wry prose, sharp self-reflection, and affinity for the uncertain reshapes her fraught experience into a nuanced story of resilience. This will be a beacon of hope for those whose lives have been touched by addiction.
Publishers Weekly
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A remarkably frank, emotionally charged foray into one woman's battle to come to terms with her partner's alcoholism; a desperate fight to protect herself and her child, and to create a world where they could be enough for one another.
Charlotte Philby
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A blistering account of damaged love, that will console anyone who lives with an addict. It's heartbreaking, eloquent and blackly funny. A book in search of the limits of compassion, finding none. An extraordinary achievement.
Rhik Samadder, author of I Never Said I Loved You