First published 2016
Elizabeth Vargas opens her story with a confession that changed everything. The respected ABC 20/20 anchor tells George Stephanopoulos the words she had never spoken aloud: "I am an alcoholic." Her memoir traces the roots of her addiction back to childhood anxiety that first struck at age six during her father's Vietnam deployment. Vargas describes how she managed her growing panic through her career rise while secretly turning to alcohol for relief. She details the elaborate methods she used to hide her dependency from colleagues, family, and herself. The book follows her journey through denial, the decision to seek treatment, and her difficult first year of sobriety. Vargas examines the guilt that plagued her as a working mother struggling to balance career demands with parenting responsibilities. She writes about rehab with unflinching honesty and addresses the ongoing challenge of maintaining sobriety while rebuilding trust with her family. The memoir captures both the shame of addiction and the hard work of recovery.
Genres: addiction, autobiography, memoir, biography-memoir
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: personal-journey, redemption, self-discovery
256 pages · Hardcover · Grand Central Publishing
Content warnings: addiction, alcohol-abuse, anxiety, depression, mental-illness