Hangover Soup: A Novel

by Louise Redd

Faith met Jay in college, "where it's hard to tell who's a true alcoholic and who's not". Five years later they're living in Austin, where Faith tutors and Jay works as a sweet talkin' DJ at the local radio station, and where the gin and tonics finally drive them apart. Jay's pledge to stay sober brings Faith back, but their reunion brings consequences far beyond their own troubled marriage. Reading group guide printed inside.

Genres: Fiction, Adult Fiction, Sports

288 pages, Paperback

First published August 1, 1999

Reviews

[Ashley · Rating 5 out of 5]

I bought this book at the thrift store thinking the title was silly. The book turned out to be really good!! Granted, the subject matter of a marriage in jeopardy was a bit above my head at 15, it was still a great book.

[Ronnie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Redd packs a lot of wisdom, heartache, joy, and tragedy into this book that, by the end, feels too short. That's mainly because you want to keep listening to and knowing Faith, Redd's down-to-earth, smart, and well-named narrator/protagonist, a Southern belle who knows her baseball as well as her Shakespeare and has a quick wit and a big heart. All those attributes don't result in the life Faith's always envisioned for herself (a life presented in the fictional letters she sends to her young pen pal), primarily because she also too well knows the dismal ramifications of alcoholism and addiction. Redd clearly knows her terrain--not just the particulars of what it's like to live with and be around substance abuse but also myriad little details that make this book special. She knows Texas, how it feels in August when "it's too late for rain to help matters," how many of its citizens speak, turning "France" into "Fray-untz" and "ARDS" into "ARDA-yus," for example. She knows tomatoes, yoga, student-athletes, the sounds cats make when forced to ride in the car, how much-maligned the Texas Rangers typically are. Redd makes Faith easy to root for, to want something better for. She left me wishing there were a follow-up book, continuing with Faith where this one leaves off.

First lines:
"If Jay were telling this story, he might start it after the wreck, after his life changed forever and mine did too. But it's me telling it, and I'm going to start it before."

[Melissa Lee-Tammeus · Rating 4 out of 5]

A look inside a woman's life in which she is struggling to hold on to a defunct marriage to an alcoholic. A fast, good read that makes you wonder "what would I do?" The fact that she is a tutor to college sports athletes gets a little long and tiresome but, other than that, I would say a very good novel about that weird thing we call love and just what we are willing to put up with to have it.

[Annie Maxey · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was really good, but moved a little slow. It didn't suck me in like some other books have in the past, but I knew that I wanted to finish it.

It's a great love story that isn't romantic in a conventional way, but earns your respect. The story really depicts love as it is in real life- something that cannot be fully understood or described.

[Yvonne · Rating 4 out of 5]

If your significant other is a drunk or some other kind of addict, you must read this book. No, it won't solve your problems -- but it will soothe you for a while and make you see that you DO have the power to do something about it.

[Becca Goyeau · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quick read, I liked the characters a lot.

[Courtney · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not a huge fan of the storyline or character development. Left me wanting more.

[Lizzie Williams · Rating 2 out of 5]

I got this book at a local bookstore in the form of a "blind date with a book". It said it was a book about the main character overcoming the challenges of having a significant other with substance abuse issues. What I did not expect was dehumanization of a drunk driving victim. In the beginning, the protagonist's husband is a drunk. We are supposed to feel bad for this woman but within the first twenty pages, she details how she assaults her husband while he is passed out drunk. We are supposed to be rooting for this woman AND SHE IS USING HIM AS A SEX TOY AS HE IS PASSED OUT. And in the beginning, the husbands only flaw is seemingly that he is a drunk, everything else about him is amazing. Then he tries to get sober for a bit, raises a ton of money towards preventing drunk driving and like a week later he kills a woman in a drunk driving accident. You know what the main characters thoughts are on this... TO FEEL BAD FOR HER HUSBAND. She legit does not care about the woman he kills, and we are supposed to root for this thought process. The only person who makes the victim of her husbands selfishness out as human is that woman's now widowed husband. The main character (whos husband killed) befriends the husband of the victim and they act like they both lost someone to the same extent. As if one is not in jail versus dead. As if one did not kill the other. The Widowed husband is the only character who cared about the victim and then the author turns him into an awful person. The author could have made him a good person but now the only person who cared about this loss of life goes and legit almost kills the main character because she rejects his advances. All I want is someone to root for and there was no one. Everyone sucked. Don't even get me started on the sports teams she tutors. the one kid is a racist and hates the main character and they supposedly has a change in heart. When he is apologizing for being a bigot, he calls to other people by the f-slur. Something tells me this mans big life change doesn't stick. The author also portrays these grown men as 10 year olds. They are like little kids instead of 20 year olds. Its crazy. Only redeaming factor is the cover, absolutely visually beautiful book.

[Michele]

Faith met Jay in college, "where it's hard to tell who's a true alcoholic and who's not". Five years later they're living in Austin, where Faith tutors and Jay works as a sweet talkin' DJ at the local radio station, and where the gin and tonics finally drive them apart. Jay's pledge to stay sober brings Faith back, but their reunion brings consequences far beyond their own troubled marriage.

[Bronwyn Rykiert · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book, though I did skip over some of the talk about Faith's job as a tutor to athletes at a university. It was her story on her life with her alcoholic husband Jay and how she coped with it.

[Christine · Rating 3 out of 5]

The beginning was kinda terrible but I'm glad I kept going. The story got better, and I started to care what was happening, and then I got slapped in the face with an ending as stupid as the start. Ugh.

[Dottie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not an easy story of alcoholism -- but well worth the reading in the long run.

[treva mccroskey · Rating 2 out of 5]

another one that i barely remember

[Deb · Rating 3 out of 5]

A young woman trying to come to terms with her alcoholic husband and their crazy marriage.

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this book many years ago and remember very little about it, so I cannot say if I liked it or not...may have to read again when I have the time.

[Patti · Rating 3 out of 5]

I searched the library catalog for soup cookbooks, & found this book with a 1999 copy right. It's good & to out of date even in 2014.

[Juli · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5

[Sarah · Rating 2 out of 5]

iT WAS AN OK READ.. THE PLOT JUST KiND OF DRAGS ON. NEEDLESS TO SAY, NOT ONE OF MY FAVORiTES. :o/