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Chardonnee: Hoe ik stopte met drinken en begon met leven
Viva - 'Chardonnee is een grappige en vooral positieve kijk op een katerloos leven.'
‘Ik ben het soort vrouw dat mijn moeder zou omschrijven (en dat doet ze ook) als “iemand die zichzelf heeft verwaarloosd”. Ik weeg ruim twaalf kilo te veel, en het overgrote deel van die kilo’s zit op mijn buik. Ik kan me niet herinneren wanneer ik voor het laatst het einde van een film heb gezien. Meestal lig ik voor die tijd al bewusteloos op de bank. Maar dan word ik om drie uur wakker, woelend, alcohol zwetend en boos op mezelf. Dus ik moet helemaal stoppen met drinken. De mok die ik nu in mijn hand heb, is dus mijn laatste. Morgen is dag 1. Kun je leven zonder drank in een wereld waar je op een speelafspraakje van je kinderen eerder een glas wijn krijgt aangeboden dan een kop thee? Waarin Facebook vol staat met verwijzingen naar borreltijd? Waarin elke sociale gelegenheid wordt aangedreven door liters drank? Is er leven na de wijn? Daar zal ik gauw genoeg achter komen...’
Chardonnee is het grappige en eerlijke verslag van Clare’s jaar waarin ze besluit geen alcohol meer te drinken maar ook de diagnose borstkanker krijgt. Hoe grijp je niet terug naar de fles als het leven flink tegenzit?
Sunday Express - 'Genadeloos eerlijk en geweldig grappig.'
HELLO! Magazine - 'Eerlijk, moedig maar ook hilarisch.'
Clare Pooley (1970) studeerde in Cambridge en werkte twintig jaar als Managing Partner bij een van ’s werelds grootste reclamebureaus tot ze besloot haar stressvolle baan op te zeggen om voor haar gezin te zorgen. Ze woont in Fullham, London, met haar Schotse man, drie kinderen, een hond en een plankje in de koelkast met alcoholvrij bier.
335 pages, Kindle Edition
First published December 28, 2017
1863 people are currently reading
12439 people want to read
About the author
Clare Pooley
22 books3,723 followersClare Pooley graduated from Newnham College, Cambridge and spent twenty years in the heady world of advertising.
Clare’s memoir - The Sober Diaries - has helped thousands of people around the world to quit drinking.
The Authenticity Project, Clare’s first novel, was a New York Times bestseller, a BBC Radio 2 book club pick, and winner of the RNA debut novel award.
Clare’s second novel - called The People on Platform 5 in the UK, and Iona Iverson’s Rules for Commuting in the USA - was published in 2022.
How to Age Disgracefully is being published in June 2024.
Clare lives in London and Cornwall, with her husband, 3 kids and 2 border terriers. She loves cooking, walking the cliff paths and wild swimming.
Clare’s memoir - The Sober Diaries - has helped thousands of people around the world to quit drinking.
The Authenticity Project, Clare’s first novel, was a New York Times bestseller, a BBC Radio 2 book club pick, and winner of the RNA debut novel award.
Clare’s second novel - called The People on Platform 5 in the UK, and Iona Iverson’s Rules for Commuting in the USA - was published in 2022.
How to Age Disgracefully is being published in June 2024.
Clare lives in London and Cornwall, with her husband, 3 kids and 2 border terriers. She loves cooking, walking the cliff paths and wild swimming.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 679 reviews
June 6, 2019
This was a very good book written to
help
others. Claire has gone down a different route to her sobriety than I had ever considered! She has gone online and started a blog; where others use Alcoholics Anonymous for their journey of self discovery and sobriety. What AA members gain through meeting others in person to share stories of hope, love and recovery Claire has used her online community of fellow addicts as her support system. Different strokes for different folks, these fundamental differences do not matter. What matters is this woman is now sober, she has reconnected with her children, her husband and her community; she has gotten to know Claire again. She is healthy and fit to live a good life, she is happier than ever before. She is helping others with her example. She has regained the self respect that alcohol steals with potency. No longer does she have to hide her wine in a coffee mug, to drink before 11 am to get her through the day. No longer does Claire have yelling matches with her children, she is no longer angry; she has reclaimed her 'wine witch'. There is no more waking up in the morning with unknown bruises, feeling deathly, and not knowing what took place that night before. No more guilt, shame and remorse. Throughout the course of reading, I took note of many good sections.
If you want what she's got, read them and take away her message of recovery, it is possible with faith in a God of your understanding. Claire parallels her journey many times to the ideals of AA.
Giving back is also fundamental to AA. It's the twelfth of the twelve steps. AA state that an alcoholic who no longer drinks has an exceptional faculty for 'reaching' and helping an uncontrolled drinker. Bill Wilson (in Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions) writes, When the twelfth step is seen in its full implication, it is really talking about the kind of love that has no price tag on it...... So now I discover that this need to give something back isn't just about quitting the booze..."
Claire is no longer in self mode, everything is not all about her. Alcoholics have this defect of character. She describes here of before and after. In previous years, with the kids on the beach in Cornwall, by 5p.m. I'd be feeling angsty. I'd be hurrying everyone along, packing up, yelling eventually, making sure that we were back home in time for 'me time'.
This type of carry on no longer is the flavour of the month. We alcohol addicts do a lot of crying alone. We gradually become more and more isolated. We don't trust ourselves when we go out. We like drinking alone because there's no one to judge us. It's comfortable. We get fewer invitations, because even if we don't get inappropriately drunk, we tend to be a bit boring and self-obsessed. (We don't realise this at the time, obviously!) We repeat ourselves. We don't listen.... God, how I loved drinking alone... (and that says it all, really).
Here are some simple dot points Claire wishes someone told her, back in the day:
1. Don't drink alone
2. Stop drinking as soon as you feel, even a tiny bit, out of control
3. Don't drink more than three times per week and
4. Never, ever drink alone
5. As soon as you find yourself unable to stick to 1-4, and/or find yourself being dishonest about your drinking, to yourself or others, GET HELP.
Claire is starkly honest (you need to get real to get sober, and want to, for that matter), brutal in her self assessment (you need to make a searching and honest moral inventory) and open for criticism (you need to accept your defects of character to understand your wrongdoings).
Self deprecating and funny, Claire tells her story without constraint. I like a conversational style of writing, and this is that. I would recommend this for those who are questioning their drinking, have come to decide they are willing to give up, for friends and relatives of someone they are worried about, for those newly sober, and for those merely curious. You will learn something; and this is precisely what sober people want to do, they want to show those that are suffering that there is an answer, that there is another way. May you find it now.
If you want what she's got, read them and take away her message of recovery, it is possible with faith in a God of your understanding. Claire parallels her journey many times to the ideals of AA.
Giving back is also fundamental to AA. It's the twelfth of the twelve steps. AA state that an alcoholic who no longer drinks has an exceptional faculty for 'reaching' and helping an uncontrolled drinker. Bill Wilson (in Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions) writes, When the twelfth step is seen in its full implication, it is really talking about the kind of love that has no price tag on it...... So now I discover that this need to give something back isn't just about quitting the booze..."
Claire is no longer in self mode, everything is not all about her. Alcoholics have this defect of character. She describes here of before and after. In previous years, with the kids on the beach in Cornwall, by 5p.m. I'd be feeling angsty. I'd be hurrying everyone along, packing up, yelling eventually, making sure that we were back home in time for 'me time'.
This type of carry on no longer is the flavour of the month. We alcohol addicts do a lot of crying alone. We gradually become more and more isolated. We don't trust ourselves when we go out. We like drinking alone because there's no one to judge us. It's comfortable. We get fewer invitations, because even if we don't get inappropriately drunk, we tend to be a bit boring and self-obsessed. (We don't realise this at the time, obviously!) We repeat ourselves. We don't listen.... God, how I loved drinking alone... (and that says it all, really).
Here are some simple dot points Claire wishes someone told her, back in the day:
1. Don't drink alone
2. Stop drinking as soon as you feel, even a tiny bit, out of control
3. Don't drink more than three times per week and
4. Never, ever drink alone
5. As soon as you find yourself unable to stick to 1-4, and/or find yourself being dishonest about your drinking, to yourself or others, GET HELP.
Claire is starkly honest (you need to get real to get sober, and want to, for that matter), brutal in her self assessment (you need to make a searching and honest moral inventory) and open for criticism (you need to accept your defects of character to understand your wrongdoings).
Self deprecating and funny, Claire tells her story without constraint. I like a conversational style of writing, and this is that. I would recommend this for those who are questioning their drinking, have come to decide they are willing to give up, for friends and relatives of someone they are worried about, for those newly sober, and for those merely curious. You will learn something; and this is precisely what sober people want to do, they want to show those that are suffering that there is an answer, that there is another way. May you find it now.
April 26, 2018
I loved this book so much. If you are recently sober it is fantastic to read the account of a first year sober. one thing which I found very good was the fact that Claire didn't have a rock bottom moment (unless it was the wine at 11am). I think that some people enjoy reading addiction memoirs to see the rock bottom moments, but this book isn't like that. In my own journey to sobriety there was no rock bottom moment, more a creeping realisation that I was drinking far too much and it was negatively affected my mental health.
Some readers have criticised the middle class-ness of it all but for me it was wonderful as I could related it.
Some readers have criticised the middle class-ness of it all but for me it was wonderful as I could related it.
January 20, 2018
This book isn’t BAD, but if you’re up for a memoir about someone moving from drinking to quitting, then Sarah Hepbola’s Blackout and Augusten Burrough’s Dry are much better - or for the more “normal person” account - Mrs. D is Going Without.
The author’s small judginess was starting to wear as I approached the end of her story, and the constant name-dropping of middle-class markers (Of COURSE I went to Waitrose, can’t let the standards drop! My kids are all dressed in Boden! I missed a lunch with Princess Anne! My friend is friends with Fergie!) was REALLY grating.
I found myself thinking several uncharitable thoughts about her by the end, but to counter this moaning review, her blog is actually a lot more enjoyable.
The author’s small judginess was starting to wear as I approached the end of her story, and the constant name-dropping of middle-class markers (Of COURSE I went to Waitrose, can’t let the standards drop! My kids are all dressed in Boden! I missed a lunch with Princess Anne! My friend is friends with Fergie!) was REALLY grating.
I found myself thinking several uncharitable thoughts about her by the end, but to counter this moaning review, her blog is actually a lot more enjoyable.
July 22, 2018
I'll start this review by stating that I rarely drink. There were many years when I did, and drink far too much. Then I stopped. This book is all about how Clare realises her life is infinitely better without alcohol. It's brutally honest, funny and sad all at the same time. She faces breast cancer and explains how she maintains her sobriety throughout the scariest time of her life. She has 3 young children, and a husband and many supportive friends but starts a blog that few of them know about. The support she finds on the internet is incredible, and she realises she is most definitely not on her own.
It's a very honest book and she almost feels like a friend by about a third of the way through. I enjoyed it very much, and would recommend it. I am sure it could possibly help those who wish to stop drinking.
It's a very honest book and she almost feels like a friend by about a third of the way through. I enjoyed it very much, and would recommend it. I am sure it could possibly help those who wish to stop drinking.
June 5, 2020
I saw Clare Pooley being interviewed on tv and asked for her book for mothers’ day. I had been unhappy with the amount I was drinking for several months, and was inspired by Clare’s success. This book could have been a hidden camera transcript of my life, if it had been a textbook there would be more yellow highlighting than not throughout its pages. I lost count of the references and moments that I could identify with, but particularly loved the Katniss mentions. I was drawn to this book for some tips on cutting down, being a ‘sensible’ drinker. I really didn’t know when I started the book if I could or wanted to give up alcohol completely, I had a fear of being branded boring. I had no idea that this was a real fear that other aspiring non drinkers experienced too. Finding out through this book that I was not alone in the way I felt about alcohol, and about the support, other than AA, which is out there online, has encouraged me to take quitting altogether very seriously.
I appreciate that this is not a review of this book as a work of literature, it is my feelings on a book which has changed me, I hope for good. I have been sober for 10 days.
I appreciate that this is not a review of this book as a work of literature, it is my feelings on a book which has changed me, I hope for good. I have been sober for 10 days.
February 26, 2020
I am sort of taken aback by the high ratings of this book but then again, a certain type of demographic (think sex in the city’s cast drinking LOTs of wine) totally eats this type of shit up.
Honestly, this book reeked of elitism and privilege and is a slap to face of addiction’s real reality. How nice it must be to have literally ALL the resources at your disposal and then successful at staying sober WITHOUT A SINGLE RELAPSE. (Also, it’s pretty awesome to be able to take a SEVEN WEEK vacation during your sobriety, yet the author managed to complain about that too since well she had to cook and clean (she is a SAHM with a nanny)). You would also think that a book about addiction and sobriety would make the reader empathize by talking about the struggle a bit, but at best, the author made sobriety sound like a uncomfortable walk in the park.
A couple years ago, I read Caroline Knapp’s Drinking, Love Story, also told by a middle class woman who had alcoholism, and that book threw me aback. Knapp’s descriptions of her alcoholic episodes following by her withdrawal, relapse, and then sobriety made my heart hurt and squirm. I felt her pain. I felt none of that reading this book.
Also, I have a personal pet peeve in books now: WHY DO white authors have a need to describe any person of color by their race but leave out race descriptors when that person is white? The only time the author used race descriptors was to describe her Black chauffeur or Uber driver when it added absolutely nothing to the story. Writing something along the lines of “my Black friendly driver...” sounds condescending as if that’s an anomaly but I doubt the author even thinks of her writing sounding ignorant. There were other instances of this throughout but I can’t remember now because her writing was unmemorable at best. Oh she did refer to two women in the book as Thing 1 and Thing 2. Stay classy.
Lastly I will say kudos to the author for staying sober and blogging about it, but this book should have just stayed at that...a blog.
Honestly, this book reeked of elitism and privilege and is a slap to face of addiction’s real reality. How nice it must be to have literally ALL the resources at your disposal and then successful at staying sober WITHOUT A SINGLE RELAPSE. (Also, it’s pretty awesome to be able to take a SEVEN WEEK vacation during your sobriety, yet the author managed to complain about that too since well she had to cook and clean (she is a SAHM with a nanny)). You would also think that a book about addiction and sobriety would make the reader empathize by talking about the struggle a bit, but at best, the author made sobriety sound like a uncomfortable walk in the park.
A couple years ago, I read Caroline Knapp’s Drinking, Love Story, also told by a middle class woman who had alcoholism, and that book threw me aback. Knapp’s descriptions of her alcoholic episodes following by her withdrawal, relapse, and then sobriety made my heart hurt and squirm. I felt her pain. I felt none of that reading this book.
Also, I have a personal pet peeve in books now: WHY DO white authors have a need to describe any person of color by their race but leave out race descriptors when that person is white? The only time the author used race descriptors was to describe her Black chauffeur or Uber driver when it added absolutely nothing to the story. Writing something along the lines of “my Black friendly driver...” sounds condescending as if that’s an anomaly but I doubt the author even thinks of her writing sounding ignorant. There were other instances of this throughout but I can’t remember now because her writing was unmemorable at best. Oh she did refer to two women in the book as Thing 1 and Thing 2. Stay classy.
Lastly I will say kudos to the author for staying sober and blogging about it, but this book should have just stayed at that...a blog.
March 13, 2019
Really couldn’t warm to the author who also seemed to find it very easy to give up drinking. I didn’t find it brutally honest’ or ‘touching’ or ‘humorous’ as other readers did. I couldn’t get past the humble bragging, the continual references that she went to Roedean, Cambridge, was the youngest this, daughter plays the clarinet and that she only lives in Fulham! The house prices in Fulham are way out of the league of most workers. Lots of name dropping and glamorous parties. To me, the whole book came across as just as much about how marvellous the author is than her drinking.
October 2, 2021
It felt as thought this book was written for me and about me. Honest, humorous, touching.
I feel as though I can re think my attitudes to alcohol, thanks to Clare's story.
I feel as though I can re think my attitudes to alcohol, thanks to Clare's story.
February 15, 2019
2.5 stars. Audiobook. I was into it at first but it ended up just being ok.
She got on my nerves by the end with her humble bragging and vanity (ok everyone keeps telling you how fantastic you look and you lost two stone - who cares). It seemed a little too easy for her to quit drinking - so it didn’t make for a very compelling read. And it got to be a little much how everything in her life was sooooo improved after - for example, claiming she hardly ever got mad at her kids anymore. That just didn’t ring true to me. And I really got sick of hearing about her blog and what she wrote and then how she was so shocked when people responded and kept telling her how great she was and how she was helping so many people (more humble bragging). I think I am generally sick of people that write blogs and then write books based on their blogs. I will probably keep getting sucked into reading them though.
She got on my nerves by the end with her humble bragging and vanity (ok everyone keeps telling you how fantastic you look and you lost two stone - who cares). It seemed a little too easy for her to quit drinking - so it didn’t make for a very compelling read. And it got to be a little much how everything in her life was sooooo improved after - for example, claiming she hardly ever got mad at her kids anymore. That just didn’t ring true to me. And I really got sick of hearing about her blog and what she wrote and then how she was so shocked when people responded and kept telling her how great she was and how she was helping so many people (more humble bragging). I think I am generally sick of people that write blogs and then write books based on their blogs. I will probably keep getting sucked into reading them though.
September 8, 2018
While it was beautifully written, humorous, and clearly authentic as it was based on the author's own story, for me and the experience I had watching my best friend progressively turn into a full blown alcoholic, the author's tone was too light and her experiences a little too shallow to reflect the shame, pain and soul wrenching torment that come with a fight for recovery and the multiple failures that mark this fight. In fact, the author's most shameful experiences seemed to be partying a little too hard and getting irritated with her children when they intruded on her drinking time. Having lived through an aunt and a friend's seamy behavior while drunk, I had the distinct feeling that the author had white-washed a great deal of the sordid bits of her alcoholism so as not to embarrass her cosy little upper class family.
I am sure this book could help a lot of closet-drinking mothers with supportive husbands, a wide social network and the ability to run the school tombola stall super-efficiently even with a hangover. I don’t think it would even touch sides with the real psychological and health issues faced by less privileged alcoholic women though.
I am sure this book could help a lot of closet-drinking mothers with supportive husbands, a wide social network and the ability to run the school tombola stall super-efficiently even with a hangover. I don’t think it would even touch sides with the real psychological and health issues faced by less privileged alcoholic women though.
February 17, 2018
5 stars! Try it for yourself - it’s funny, authentic and really touches home about valuing life. I loved it and enjoyed some “laugh out loud” moments. Great book! :-)
August 14, 2024
Don't bother reading if you aren't posh.
I read this because I'm 6 months into being sober and the book stood out to me about a journey of someones first year. What also caught my attention was that Pooley is what's known as high functioning. She hasn't allowed alcohol to completely wreck her life, but she's teetering
In fairness to Clare Pooley, with a memoir one can only write about their ow experiences and the world in which they occupy. The trouble for myself was that the world she occupies is one of plummy middle class intelligentsia. She can barely go a chapter without dropping something impressive about either herself or her family (her father was a top bureaucrat, and if I had a pound for every to she mentions she went to cambridge I'd have enough for alcohol to not be a financial concern)
She even admits herself that on several occasions she felt smug for certain reasons. The entire memoir, sadly, is just that, smug. The revealing passage was that she says her life 'was blessed' as if this was a clandestine admission when in fact the entire text is roll call of how wonderful upper middle class existence is West London is, with or without alcohol. The sadness of it is, that by the time I finished I honestly couldn't have cared less if she had started drinking. I felt no empathy for her or her journey, it is simply 300 pages worth of self agrandizement.
Little update August 2024: I'm 4 and a half years sober and my life has dramatically turned around for the better. If you're reading this book you are probably on the journey yourself. I implore you to keep going, it gets easier, and well done on staying sober today :)
I read this because I'm 6 months into being sober and the book stood out to me about a journey of someones first year. What also caught my attention was that Pooley is what's known as high functioning. She hasn't allowed alcohol to completely wreck her life, but she's teetering
In fairness to Clare Pooley, with a memoir one can only write about their ow experiences and the world in which they occupy. The trouble for myself was that the world she occupies is one of plummy middle class intelligentsia. She can barely go a chapter without dropping something impressive about either herself or her family (her father was a top bureaucrat, and if I had a pound for every to she mentions she went to cambridge I'd have enough for alcohol to not be a financial concern)
She even admits herself that on several occasions she felt smug for certain reasons. The entire memoir, sadly, is just that, smug. The revealing passage was that she says her life 'was blessed' as if this was a clandestine admission when in fact the entire text is roll call of how wonderful upper middle class existence is West London is, with or without alcohol. The sadness of it is, that by the time I finished I honestly couldn't have cared less if she had started drinking. I felt no empathy for her or her journey, it is simply 300 pages worth of self agrandizement.
Little update August 2024: I'm 4 and a half years sober and my life has dramatically turned around for the better. If you're reading this book you are probably on the journey yourself. I implore you to keep going, it gets easier, and well done on staying sober today :)
February 18, 2018
I listened to this as an audiobook. The reader was excellent. The material was great and focused on what happens after you make a huge life change. Funny and engaging, I highly recommend it!
April 8, 2018
Brilliant book
This is a must for anybody concerned with their drinking. I think the best in it's category. Funny, informative and brilliantly written.
This is a must for anybody concerned with their drinking. I think the best in it's category. Funny, informative and brilliantly written.
November 14, 2019
She said "vino" too much and every time I read it I just wanted to throw the book against the wall.
August 25, 2024
One of my favorite books of the year, to be honest.
i have a complicated relationship with alcohol. on one hand, i drink quite a bit - arguably more frequently than i used to, having a new beer every now and then because of untappd and the self-appointed quest to have as many unique beers as i can. it adds a whole new dynamic to travelling and taste-acquiring wherever i go, and despite me having what seems like an innately large number of beers in the past year of having the app.
that being said, i have significantly cut down on my single-day usage - i stop much earlier than i would have before, and i feel my limits approaching earlier. shifting to beer has meant shifting away from harder liquors and cocktails also - many of whom
have given me plenty of remorse the following day.
so when i saw this at the bookstore, i wasn’t having a dilemma of whether i have a problem or not like i used to. i think i’m in a healthier place, but i’m still working on cutting down, maybe eventually quitting altogether.
but the only thing keeping me in is the novelty and the social crutch - if i quit, i would mostly stop appearing in social events altogether; i don’t like being around people when i’m sober because i feel inept to handle it. i often feel either inadequate or contemptuous when around people during late nights. but what i would rather feel is contentment or happiness, and that i can often achieve by diving in.
so maybe i was at the dilemma anyway when i got it.
anyhow, this book is lovely. it’s honest, it’s british, it’s tremendously insightful. i expected it to be far worse, honestly.
and it’s a step in the right direction.
i have a complicated relationship with alcohol. on one hand, i drink quite a bit - arguably more frequently than i used to, having a new beer every now and then because of untappd and the self-appointed quest to have as many unique beers as i can. it adds a whole new dynamic to travelling and taste-acquiring wherever i go, and despite me having what seems like an innately large number of beers in the past year of having the app.
that being said, i have significantly cut down on my single-day usage - i stop much earlier than i would have before, and i feel my limits approaching earlier. shifting to beer has meant shifting away from harder liquors and cocktails also - many of whom
have given me plenty of remorse the following day.
so when i saw this at the bookstore, i wasn’t having a dilemma of whether i have a problem or not like i used to. i think i’m in a healthier place, but i’m still working on cutting down, maybe eventually quitting altogether.
but the only thing keeping me in is the novelty and the social crutch - if i quit, i would mostly stop appearing in social events altogether; i don’t like being around people when i’m sober because i feel inept to handle it. i often feel either inadequate or contemptuous when around people during late nights. but what i would rather feel is contentment or happiness, and that i can often achieve by diving in.
so maybe i was at the dilemma anyway when i got it.
anyhow, this book is lovely. it’s honest, it’s british, it’s tremendously insightful. i expected it to be far worse, honestly.
and it’s a step in the right direction.
February 7, 2023
I loved this book, and I regret putting it off for a while.
It’s the 3rd ‘going sober’ book I’ve read, my other two having 1. A much more feminist driven voice 2. A much more scientific voice, but this one just has a human voice.
Clare addresses the serious (but forgotten) health issues that comes with drinking and the annoying (but clearly successful) marketing that’s behind wine and women - especially behind mums. But she is so human in sharing her experiences, what she learns and her human makes it so much more powerful and relatable.
Going sober again myself (last time managing 10 months), this book has reinforced in me every reason why I have gone sober again. I already feel so at peace with myself, see the benefits in my relationships and healthy, alongside my relationship and love for my inner child self.
This book felt like a supportive hug, and I can’t wait to reach my 365 day mark (and also to be a sober mum) but that’s a hella a long way away !! It made me feel proud and happy to be on my own sober path and to see where I am in a year when looking back at my own journals.
It’s the 3rd ‘going sober’ book I’ve read, my other two having 1. A much more feminist driven voice 2. A much more scientific voice, but this one just has a human voice.
Clare addresses the serious (but forgotten) health issues that comes with drinking and the annoying (but clearly successful) marketing that’s behind wine and women - especially behind mums. But she is so human in sharing her experiences, what she learns and her human makes it so much more powerful and relatable.
Going sober again myself (last time managing 10 months), this book has reinforced in me every reason why I have gone sober again. I already feel so at peace with myself, see the benefits in my relationships and healthy, alongside my relationship and love for my inner child self.
This book felt like a supportive hug, and I can’t wait to reach my 365 day mark (and also to be a sober mum) but that’s a hella a long way away !! It made me feel proud and happy to be on my own sober path and to see where I am in a year when looking back at my own journals.
March 21, 2018
Loved this. Met Claire at book event at Mainstreet Trading in St Boswell’s. She’s the most lovely, ‘normal’ busy Mum and wife. Her account is so ‘real’ and ‘relatable’ thank you Claire! This will speak volumes to lots of people!
May 29, 2020
The author is utterly repugnant and the book could easily be half as long and have made the same points.
However, if you want to hear such gems as (I'm paraphrasing here but..) 'whilst sitting in a front row seat at a fashion show I thought if only Alexander McQueen appreciated art more then maybe he wouldn't have killed himself' then perhaps this is the book for you.
I was hoping to be challenged about mine and society's attitude to alcohol but all I got was some smug, irritating, privileged mum's musings about how hard it is to decline a cocktail when holidaying in the carribean. Puke.
However, if you want to hear such gems as (I'm paraphrasing here but..) 'whilst sitting in a front row seat at a fashion show I thought if only Alexander McQueen appreciated art more then maybe he wouldn't have killed himself' then perhaps this is the book for you.
I was hoping to be challenged about mine and society's attitude to alcohol but all I got was some smug, irritating, privileged mum's musings about how hard it is to decline a cocktail when holidaying in the carribean. Puke.
February 13, 2019
Well written, witty and honest. I think this book will help lots of people, particularly as it's very easy to relate to the author's experiences, both as someone who drinks, and someone who's trying not to. My only caveat is that her relative wealth and privilege allow her to access resources and support not available to everyone. I learned a lot about alcohol dependency from reading this book.
August 11, 2021
I really disliked the author by the end of the book. Constantly touting how priviliged she is in all those ‘casual’ asides : spending 500 quid a month on wine (apparently only Chablis is good enough for her), missing lunch with princess Anne, blah blah.
But when she gets a parking ticket, she gets out of paying by telling the authorities it was because of her breast cancer diagnosis.
But when she gets a parking ticket, she gets out of paying by telling the authorities it was because of her breast cancer diagnosis.
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October 11, 2018the book I actually read by this author isn't available on Goodreads and I am nothing if not obsessive about tracking my numbers accurately SO HERE IS A LITTLE WHITE LIE, APOLOGIES
September 1, 2018
So I have a pile of books in my bedside and I am quite strict that I read them in the order that they have been added to the pile. They get added either by people giving them to me or me buying. I choose what to read from this app, I list in my to read following from recommendations or if I have watched or read an article about the book. So after seeing the author talking about this book it got added to the to read list and then to my pile. It was on the bottom of a pile of about 10 and I knew it would take ages to get to. Then on 27/8 there was a bbc documentary on a tv presenter who thought he drank too much and in general the impact of alcohol it was really interesting and although I don’t see myself as an alcoholic I guess if you think you drink too much you probably do. So after watching the documentary I pulled out this book letting it hum the queue and have spent the last 5 nights reading it, easy to do when you aren’t drinking. This is such a great book funny, intelligent, interesting and factual. It along with the documentary have really made me think about my relationship with alcohol. I can’t say I will stop completely but the fact that I was up at 7 on a Saturday morning enjoying the peace and quiet in my house is a good enough reason. I am now on day 5 and like a child because I am telling myself I can’t have something I have been thinking about it everyday. I don’t think you need to have a drink problem to enjoy this book it is really well written and I for one would like to thank Clare for sharing her story.
August 7, 2019
I almost didn’t start this book because I didn’t want to be forced into any self-realization about my own drinking habits. But, I’m so glad I read it. Peering behind the curtain isn’t as scary as it sounds.
While I don’t feel that I have a massive drinking problem, I definitely see where the slippery slope could come into play at some point. I find it fascinating when Clare writes about how alcohol is the one drug that is so socially acceptable that quitters feel ostracized. So true!!
Most of us, in today’s world, could stand to drink less and feel more emotions. If anything, let’s do that.
And if you’re considering quitting alcohol all together? That’s so great and let’s get better at supporting everyone who makes that choice.
I’m really looking forward to reading her next book.
I highly recommend!
While I don’t feel that I have a massive drinking problem, I definitely see where the slippery slope could come into play at some point. I find it fascinating when Clare writes about how alcohol is the one drug that is so socially acceptable that quitters feel ostracized. So true!!
Most of us, in today’s world, could stand to drink less and feel more emotions. If anything, let’s do that.
And if you’re considering quitting alcohol all together? That’s so great and let’s get better at supporting everyone who makes that choice.
I’m really looking forward to reading her next book.
I highly recommend!
January 17, 2018
Hilarious and thought provoking
I heard the author interviewed on the radio. I don't have an issue with drinking but it sounded worth reading. I was hooked. This Lady can write and put across a lot of good sense in a light hearted way. Would highly recommend it whether you want to give up drinking or not.
I heard the author interviewed on the radio. I don't have an issue with drinking but it sounded worth reading. I was hooked. This Lady can write and put across a lot of good sense in a light hearted way. Would highly recommend it whether you want to give up drinking or not.
April 19, 2018
Clare's story simultaneously made me cry happy tears and at times, sad ones. Her honest words were a breath of fresh air and the fact that she turned her first year sober while also getting diagnosed with the big C in the meantime is brave and I'm sure she has helped so many people in different ways.
September 11, 2020
It got soo boring and repetitive towards the end. I guess I couldn’t really relate Cos I don’t have a family of my own. But I feel like I didn’t gain anything from this book and it wasn’t written in a captivating way
Had to skip the last quarter. Yeh yeh we get it you’re going to another party sober and it was great! You’ve already said that
Had to skip the last quarter. Yeh yeh we get it you’re going to another party sober and it was great! You’ve already said that
January 15, 2018
Great read.
Loved Clare's very honest account of life before and after booze. Highly recommend. I laughed out loud in parts. A good support if you are thinking you rely too heavily on alcohol. Loved it.
Loved Clare's very honest account of life before and after booze. Highly recommend. I laughed out loud in parts. A good support if you are thinking you rely too heavily on alcohol. Loved it.
June 6, 2019
An easy read with a few parallels to quitting smoking. The humble brags bothered me.
September 11, 2019
I was hoping more for a bad girl, hot mess, rock star going sober chronicle. This was boring as all suburbia.
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