Coming Clean: A True Story of Love, Addiction and Recovery by Liz Fraser

My name is Liz, and I am the partner of an alcoholic. I am also the mother of the child of an alcoholic. I never expected any of the story that follows to happen in my life. But it did - just as it does to millions of others who didn't expect it either. We are everyday people with everyday jobs. We floss our teeth. We recycle. We watch Netflix, join a gym and even go sometimes, and read stories to our kids. You would never know, to look at us, what secrets and pains we hold. We look just like everyone else. And most of us think we are alone in it. We are not. 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's partner, the love of her life and the father of her child, fell 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 her baby, in a foreign country, renovating a house, paying all the family bills plus shouldering his enormous drink-related costs, working whenever she could with no childcare or help from anyone, and slowly losing her mind from shock, exhaustion and heartbreak. She didn't have a clue what was going on, or how to cope. And she kept it entirely to herself. Since his recovery and their reconciliation Liz has met and talked with many others who live, or have lived, with alcoholism or other substance abuse, whether a partner, a child or some other relative or friend, and the relief when they talk about it with someone who understands, is enormous. In telling her own story here, and sharing what she has learned from all those who helped her through it, she aims to give that voice to anyone else going through it who also feels alone, confused, frightened, or just so damn tired they need a hug. Liz don't know how the story will end. None of us does. But all sides need a voice. This is hers.