UNSHAMING https://ift.tt/B1L0TyE

Bydlowska became a self-proclaimed “mid-list author” with her book Drunk Mom (2013), which chronicled her journey to sobriety as a young mother. Her latest memoir opens with a vivid description of a biking accident that occurred while she was secretly drunk. The accident was a result of a relapse during the Covid-19 pandemic, one of at least 20 relapses she’s had throughout her life. To help pay for the dental surgery she needed after crashing into a wall, she started a GoFundMe campaign for which she lied and claimed that her injuries were the results of a series of bad decisions rather than an end to her sobriety. As the author of a memoir about sobriety, she felt deep shame about the “optics” of relapsing. “Most addicts, unlike me, haven’t told the entire world of their sobriety, and then published a book about it,” she writes. Recounting the GoFundMe campaign led her to examine the many other sources of shame that continued to affect her, including her feelings about dating a man who cheated on her and her shame about failing her son. These feelings, she says, were the root cause of her frequent relapses. Eventually, it was her ability to confess her shame in an online Alcoholics Anonymous meeting that put her back on the path to sobriety. Bydlowska’s confessional tone and trenchant self-reflection make the memoir an excellent read. The author’s use of footnotes and meandering style can sometimes make the plot difficult to follow, but, overall, this is a page-turner that’s full of vulnerability and heart.

from Kirkus Reviews https://ift.tt/6HRTov9