Synopses & Reviews
With skill and compassion, Sarah Hafner, a recovering alcoholic, elicits from 18 women their struggles and triumphs as they fought alcoholism in a society where women cross-section of women, Hafner makes readily available the identification process found so helpful in various recovery programs. These stories reveal the personal side of a disease that afflicts approximately 10.5 million Americans, nearly half of them women, and directly affects many millions more.
Nice Girls Don't Drink invites us into the lives of women from all segments of our society--rich and poor, gay and straight, women in diverse ethnic groups and a variety of occupations. Housewives, salesclerks, counselors, and artists are here together telling of a disease that transcends the distinctions of class, education, and culture. With courage, candor, and even flashes of humor, the women recount the early influences that led to their addiction, often including alcoholic or abusive parents; how alcoholism took over their lives; crucial turning points; and the recovery that enabled them to reclaim their dignity. The book guides readers to sources of help, and lists the twelve steps of Alcoholics Anonymous and the thirteen affirmations of Women for Sobriety. A monument to the resilience of the human spirit, Nice Girls Don't Drink is a source of inspiration for the female alcoholic, but more generally, it is for anyone struggling to overcome an addiction or other handicap with the goal of living a more complete life.
Review
The Resounding message we get from the excruciatingly eloquent voices in this book is that women alcoholics have needs that society is not heeding, and certainly not addressing. Perhaps the underlying theme--which echoes long after the reader puts the book down--is that alcoholism itself may be more symptom than disease, and that the real devastation of these women's lives is an absence of self-worth. Nice Girls Don't Drink is a cry for help we dare not ignore.Phyllis Hobe Author of Lovebound: Recovering from an Alcoholic Family
Review
I recommend this book as a learning tool, compassion builder, and an aid for recoveryJournal of Ministry in Addiction and Recovery
Review
Hurrah for Hafner!Jean Kirkpatrick, Ph.D. Founder and Executive Director, Women for Sobriety
Synopsis
In this unique and inspirational book, the voices of recovering women alcoholics speak out. Hafner, a recovering alcoholic herself, has elicited the personal struggles and triumphs of a diverse group of women confronting alcoholism.
Synopsis
In this powerful and unique book the voices of recovering women alcoholics speak out. Hafner, a recovering alcoholic herself, has elicited the personal stories of the struggles and triumphs of a diverse group of 18 women confronting a disease that afflicts some 10.5 million Americans and directly affects millions more. The book guides the reader to sources for help, and lists the 12 steps of Alcoholics Anonymous and the 13 affirmations of Women for Sobriety. An inspiration to the woman struggling with alcoholism, this book is also a healing tool for all of us, sufferers of what is ambiguously called "the human condition."
About the Author
SARAH HAFNER is a writer and artist. She attended Amherst College and Pratt Institute, and now resides in Northampton, Massachusetts, where she is at work on her second book.
Table of Contents
Introduction
Making it Through the Night
Abuse
Identity: Searching for a Voice
In Love
Self Worth
Nice Girls Don't Drink
Resources