5. A Girl Walks Out of a Bar by Lisa F. Smith Lisa was a bright young lawyer at a prestigious New York law firm, she worked hard and played hard, just like her colleagues. But behind closed doors, her addictions to alcohol and cocaine quickly spiraled out of control. Lisa drank and used drugs around the clock but managed to keep it all hidden for the most part. She was a high-functioning addict until one morning she... wasn't. With blood in her urine and a glass of wine in her hand just to get out the door for work, she finally reached out for help. Her raw depiction unveils the pressures of her job (20% of lawyers have substance abuse problems, she reports) as well as the personal costs of addiction, including divorce, ill health, and self-loathing. I found myself rooting for this extraordinary woman as she travels the path to recovery, healing, and triumph over addiction; her story will inspire both those who have been there and those who have not. From the author: “After hitting bottom and going to detox for five days, I went back to the job I was in and kept quiet about my addiction. I stayed sober, and about a year later, I joined my current firm. Years later, when I started to write publicly about my addiction and recovery, I told my colleagues. I trusted and respected them. I didn’t want them to learn my story on the Internet. It was difficult to share, but the response I received was overwhelmingly positive. I am lucky to be in a compassionate and supportive environment. Not everyone is so fortunate, though. I still recommend thinking long and hard before opening up in a law firm. But, I hope, that can change over time. If you like reading quit lit and want to meet other like- minded people, why not come and join our book club? Check out @sobergirlbookclub on Instagram – website coming soon. You can also subscribe to our weekly newsletter for free, just click here All books available here
she aims to give insight into our obsession with drinking, why alcoholism is a gendered issue, and the strength that can be found in going sober. From the author: “Spending a night out drinking is akin to dismantling every piece of protection we have—our cognition, our decision making, our reaction time, our memory, our standards, our voice. If we thought about alcohol in this way—as something that undermines our collective momentum and personal agency and vitality and self-worth—what would that mean for us? What if we all rejected the poison—then what? I’ll tell you what: world domination, bitches.” 4. The Sober Diaries: How One Woman Stopped Drinking and Started Living by Clare Pooley I flew through this book, it was funny but also serious and it made for really easy reading. It reminded me of Bridget Jones if she ever decided to ger sober! Clare Pooley, a career woman and mum of three kids, opens up about her transformation to sober life. She quit drinking and started a blog: Mummy was a Secret Drinker. That blog led to this book, The Sober Diaries. She writes about her first year in sobriety and all the highs and lows. This is a good option for those who are questioning their own drinking habits but not quite ready for a self- help book, Pooley weaves in research and advice such as: 'How do I know if I'm drinking too much?' and 'What do I say to friends and family?' for a much softer approach. From the author: “ I’d known for a while that I was drinking too much and that it was starting to seriously mess up my life. I was two stone overweight, a terrible insomniac and anxious all the time. I also felt like my life was stuck in a rut. I’d lost sight of the person that I used to be. I didn’t want to quit – the idea terrified me! Wine was my best friend. I was the party girl, the rebel. Wine defined me. So, I tried, and tried to moderate. But I found it impossible to stick to any of the rules I set myself. The more I tried to drink less, the more I thought about booze. Finally, I realised that I am an all-or-nothing person. Moderation just isn’t my thing. I knew that I would find it easier to stop drinking all together than to try to drink ‘sensibly” .”
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