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Finding Tess: A Mother's Search for Answers in a Dopesick America
On Christmas Eve, 2017, Tess Henry was found dead in a dumpster in Las Vegas. Tess was a 28-year-old new mother, a former honor roll student, and high school basketball player from suburban Roanoke, Virginia, a place ravaged by the national opioid crisis. The New York Times best-selling author Beth Macy chronicled Tess and her mom, Patricia, through Tess's harrowing, years-long battle to recover from heroin addiction in her award-winning book, Dopesick: Dealers, Doctors, and the Drug Company That Addicted America. But just as Tess was on the brink of returning to a normal life with her young son, she was brutally murdered.
Finding Tess: A Mother’s Search for Answers in a Dopesick America is a psychosocial autopsy of sorts, not just a retracing of Tess’s final steps on the streets of Las Vegas, but also a dissection of what went wrong during the six-year span of her opioid addiction, as well as the changes inspired by her story. This exclusive audio documentary—a coda to Dopesick—features interviews with Tess, her family, and many of those who tried to help her along the way, as well as the systems and the people who failed her. By tracing Tess’s final steps as she tried so hard to make her way back to Virginia—and to her son—Finding Tess illuminates a journey shared by too many of the 2.6 million Americans battling opioid addiction, offering lessons from a cast of unlikely heroes and, along with them, hope.
Finding Tess: A Mother’s Search for Answers in a Dopesick America is a psychosocial autopsy of sorts, not just a retracing of Tess’s final steps on the streets of Las Vegas, but also a dissection of what went wrong during the six-year span of her opioid addiction, as well as the changes inspired by her story. This exclusive audio documentary—a coda to Dopesick—features interviews with Tess, her family, and many of those who tried to help her along the way, as well as the systems and the people who failed her. By tracing Tess’s final steps as she tried so hard to make her way back to Virginia—and to her son—Finding Tess illuminates a journey shared by too many of the 2.6 million Americans battling opioid addiction, offering lessons from a cast of unlikely heroes and, along with them, hope.
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Published October 3, 2019
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 225 reviews
July 31, 2020
From the author of Dopesick, a heartbreaking and extremely well done documentary. The opioid crisis has brought so many to their knees, users and their families alike. Tess and her mother's struggles are so emotional, I actually got goosebumps at times listening to this. Lack of understanding, inept treatments, the stigma involved and non caring medical personnel who believe thereis only one way to kick the habit.
A body harvest is what the author considers this crisis. Life under and around the big flashy casinos in Vegas. Gang stalking, when a gang member wants you, but you don't want in. God, Tess went through so much, she was a mother who mentally wanted to get clean but physically was not able. They called her the post, as she wrote many poems expressing her feelings. This takes us on the journey of not only her addiction, but her many efforts to get clean. Her murder, before she could return home and hearing from the many people in her life in some form of another. A necessary read, an informative one.
One fact really struck home. Purdue Pharma has made the same amount of money as El Chapo, he sits in jail, where are they, still able to live their privileged lives.
An audible original.
A body harvest is what the author considers this crisis. Life under and around the big flashy casinos in Vegas. Gang stalking, when a gang member wants you, but you don't want in. God, Tess went through so much, she was a mother who mentally wanted to get clean but physically was not able. They called her the post, as she wrote many poems expressing her feelings. This takes us on the journey of not only her addiction, but her many efforts to get clean. Her murder, before she could return home and hearing from the many people in her life in some form of another. A necessary read, an informative one.
One fact really struck home. Purdue Pharma has made the same amount of money as El Chapo, he sits in jail, where are they, still able to live their privileged lives.
An audible original.
April 29, 2020
What ocycodone can do to a successful mother and daughter with education and a job
April 8, 2020
I thought Dopesick was well done and important, but this one just came off rather maudlin and naive. It leaned way too heavily into a "even rich white kids get addicted" narrative, like that is the only reason people should care about addiction.
April 11, 2020
This sounded like it was a Netflix documentary series already. Plus, it's sort of close to home - meaning it takes place in VA.
Finding Tess was an eye opener. It dove into addiction and what it's like. Especially within our own country. In it, we get to see Macy get closer and closer to Tess and her mother. Yet, that's not all. No, they are both trying to figure out what happened to Tess and why.
It was honestly a bit heartbreaking with how Tess's family treated her. Well, except her mother who actually did try to help her out. Yet, no one else really did - which is pretty sad. I get it, she is an addict and she's made terrible mistakes throughout her life BUT no one really knows what addiction feels like until they have it.
So, yeah, I was very disappointed with some people in this book. I'm also not very proud that people started to view addiction differently when it came to upper class white citizens falling into it. It should've been important from the very beginning but no, it wasn't.
Finding Tess was an eye opener. It dove into addiction and what it's like. Especially within our own country. In it, we get to see Macy get closer and closer to Tess and her mother. Yet, that's not all. No, they are both trying to figure out what happened to Tess and why.
It was honestly a bit heartbreaking with how Tess's family treated her. Well, except her mother who actually did try to help her out. Yet, no one else really did - which is pretty sad. I get it, she is an addict and she's made terrible mistakes throughout her life BUT no one really knows what addiction feels like until they have it.
So, yeah, I was very disappointed with some people in this book. I'm also not very proud that people started to view addiction differently when it came to upper class white citizens falling into it. It should've been important from the very beginning but no, it wasn't.
April 10, 2020
This Audible Original is both a repeat and a continuation of Macy's book, Dopesick: Dealers, Doctors, and the Drug Company that Addicted America. If you haven't read Dopesick, check out my review on TheBibliophage.com.
Both books/audiobooks are harrowing tales of what addiction is really like in America. In this Audible-produced version, Macy focuses on just one of the people she follows in Dopesick. She gets close to Tess and her mother. In fact, her connection to them might cross the line of journalistic reserve.
Either way, in this audiobook Macy searches for answers she didn't have when Dopesick concluded. We are privy to her actual interviews, some of which have ridiculously terrible sound quality. Nevertheless, they have an intensity that a print work doesn't.
Having just completed Dopesick, Saving Tess felt repetitive to me. It's five hours long and I didn't learn much new until the last hour. So, I'd recommend this if the longer book feels like too much. If you've read Dopesick, grab this when it's free on Audible. But it's not worth paying for.
Both books/audiobooks are harrowing tales of what addiction is really like in America. In this Audible-produced version, Macy focuses on just one of the people she follows in Dopesick. She gets close to Tess and her mother. In fact, her connection to them might cross the line of journalistic reserve.
Either way, in this audiobook Macy searches for answers she didn't have when Dopesick concluded. We are privy to her actual interviews, some of which have ridiculously terrible sound quality. Nevertheless, they have an intensity that a print work doesn't.
Having just completed Dopesick, Saving Tess felt repetitive to me. It's five hours long and I didn't learn much new until the last hour. So, I'd recommend this if the longer book feels like too much. If you've read Dopesick, grab this when it's free on Audible. But it's not worth paying for.
October 22, 2020
This wasn't quite 4 stars but I'm rounding up because this is a voice that needs to be heard. Changes are necessary in a society that has discarded this particular group. It needs to be addressed. The question for me is what more can be done to truly make a difference to help them?
Tess was an addict. She struggled a lot. Then winds up dead in a garbage can in Las Vegas. Her mother tries to collect all the pieces in Tess's timeline leading up to her death. She is also trying to bring change armed with her daughter's story and the stories of others.
The audio quality here wasn't great...not even in the ball park of "good". But I liked the way the interviews were linked in a mostly chronological order. So 4 stars.
Tess was an addict. She struggled a lot. Then winds up dead in a garbage can in Las Vegas. Her mother tries to collect all the pieces in Tess's timeline leading up to her death. She is also trying to bring change armed with her daughter's story and the stories of others.
The audio quality here wasn't great...not even in the ball park of "good". But I liked the way the interviews were linked in a mostly chronological order. So 4 stars.
May 7, 2020
I am conflicted in how to review this book. It is certainly well written, however I spent the majority of my time wondering if the writer and the subjects mother would ever acknowledge that Tess played any part in her own tragic demise. It was painful, and I felt deeply for them in their sorrow, but I believe the totality of their anger was displaced which is not good for dealing with anything. I hope they can come to terms with the situation and find peace in how they tried to help Tess.
December 12, 2019
Moving. Heartbreaking. Uplifting in its way. If you've read Dopesick, you know about Tess. If you haven't - YOU MUST. Then you'll know about Tess. Here, Macy and Patricia (Tess' mom) try to understand all the events that have led to where things are at now. It chronicles an addict's life, yes. But it also shows just how harsh and lacking our medical system is when it comes to treating addiction as a *disease* and not as a crime. I can only hope that as we learn more, we do better - otherwise, we fail the addicts, their families, and entire communities.
April 20, 2020
3/5 ⭐️
I’m a total true crime junkie, but I’ve always listened to podcasts, never read a book. Maybe that’s why I didn’t enjoy this as much? The story was okay, but it didn’t grip me as much as I thought it was going to.
I’m a total true crime junkie, but I’ve always listened to podcasts, never read a book. Maybe that’s why I didn’t enjoy this as much? The story was okay, but it didn’t grip me as much as I thought it was going to.
April 29, 2020
2.5/5 This was such a mixed bag for me. The description of the book makes it sound like we're going to deep dive into the murder and life of Tess, and in many ways we did, but not in the way I expected. The book becomes quite uncomfortable for me when you realize Tess helped create the author's first book (which is promoted throughout this book time and time and time again) and that instead of focusing primarily on Tess, who should be the one memorialized here, the book ends up being this uncomfortable avenue for the author to quite unskillfully push her own agenda. It started to read like quite an uncomfortable predatory grab at this woman's life for... well a publishing deal. The contents of the book are almost word for word what is described in the author's previous work but with little tidbits of Tess's life intertwined. There is a lot more focus on the political environment of heroin in America than I would have expected, which I understand is important, but just came across so... wrong. If you're going to choose to report on the true climate of heroin in America it has to be representative of the truth and this novel just wasn't. Macy specifically chose to focus on upper-middle-class/rich white kids and young adults in her book, maybe because that's primarily who her audience is, or maybe out of willful ignorance, but the continuous comments to POC being "shady", untrustworthy, etc. was extremely blind considering who is truly most affected by heroin in America. I understand that ultimately this book chooses to focus on the politics of heroin in America to help people "like" Tess, but how limiting is it to talk about the top percentage of heroin users without describing the politics and disadvantages that POC and urbanized neighborhoods have to go through in their struggles as well? If the book was meant to start a revolution in America concerning how we look at and consider drug users it failed epically because it chose to talk about rich white men and women exclusively. If it was meant to memorialize Tess it did so poorly because it talked exclusively about her failings due to drug usage in order to advance it's political agenda. So exactly what, and who, was this book made for?
April 23, 2020
This is a tragic story, but ultimately it reads as a hagiography of the addicted rather than trying to tackle the difficult nuance behind these issues. Tess’ story is really tragic, no doubt about that and I hope that they find whoever killed her and prosecute them to the fullest. However, the story of the addicted is much more difficult than “it is society’s fault.” Tess is presented as someone who didn’t have any choice in the matter and her fall into addiction was everyone’s fault, but her own. I would be more responsive to this thesis if the journalist had spent more time with those who take the opposite stance of her. Instead the book is mainly focused on spending time with people who thought only the best of Tess, including the author herself. She got too close with her subject and I believe that has colored her perception of who she was. The best example of this is when she bought into Tess’ fantasy of gang stalking. In my experience only people who are mentally deranged or drug addled believe in gang stalking so it makes sense why the police wouldn’t take it seriously.
Should we do more to help the addicted? Yes definitely. Should companies be held responsible? Maybe, depends on what responsibility looks like. Should medical professionals be better trained and equipped? Yes. Is Tess responsible for being addicted? Yes. And it is because the author can’t reconcile with that last question that this book fails to launch.
Should we do more to help the addicted? Yes definitely. Should companies be held responsible? Maybe, depends on what responsibility looks like. Should medical professionals be better trained and equipped? Yes. Is Tess responsible for being addicted? Yes. And it is because the author can’t reconcile with that last question that this book fails to launch.
April 14, 2020
1st- It was not a Goodreads book but rather a free audible this month I received.
2nd- I wouldn't exactly classify this as a book but more of perhaps a podcast.
Those clarifications being said I am rather in shock honestly and yes, admittedly naive obviously as well as sheltered. I read, I watch news, I listen to the crisis sweeping the country but it has never really hit me. This story opens up some of the many issues and obstacles of why it has become so prevalent in our society. It is heartbreaking, real, and can easily be a friend, family member, or even you in the blink of an eye. Don't believe me? Shaking your head and saying never?! Take a listen before you judge. That's what they said too. Like a virus, it doesn't care if you are rich or poor, black or white or purple, nor gender, nor religious beliefs.
Caution: When I read books like these I always like to put a little warning for those that may have past trauma and are susceptible to being triggered. They are very candid and open about everything. Not just the drug aspect but also gangs, prostitution, murder, severe beatings, child neglect, broken homes, death threats, .... etc.
2nd- I wouldn't exactly classify this as a book but more of perhaps a podcast.
Those clarifications being said I am rather in shock honestly and yes, admittedly naive obviously as well as sheltered. I read, I watch news, I listen to the crisis sweeping the country but it has never really hit me. This story opens up some of the many issues and obstacles of why it has become so prevalent in our society. It is heartbreaking, real, and can easily be a friend, family member, or even you in the blink of an eye. Don't believe me? Shaking your head and saying never?! Take a listen before you judge. That's what they said too. Like a virus, it doesn't care if you are rich or poor, black or white or purple, nor gender, nor religious beliefs.
Caution: When I read books like these I always like to put a little warning for those that may have past trauma and are susceptible to being triggered. They are very candid and open about everything. Not just the drug aspect but also gangs, prostitution, murder, severe beatings, child neglect, broken homes, death threats, .... etc.
April 19, 2020
Heartbreaking. Clarifying. Horrible. This is one of the best Audible Originals that I’ve heard. It is both so far from my personal experience as to be insightful, but so close to an acquaintance’s to be painful to consider. It will stay with me for a long time yet to come. Missed the 5 star mark because I don’t think I would listen again. It’s just too emotional.
June 2, 2020
Very respectful of all those involved and detail-oriented. It provided a good lens into the world of addiction, without exploiting the family it centered around.
October 26, 2023
A unique original audiobook that conveys so much more than the printed word ever could. You hear in the voices of Tess and the people who cared about her the pain you won’t unhear when the book is done.
Dr. John Burton in Roanoke, VA, helped to change the emergency department healthcare protocols as a result of being better informed by Beth Macy’s book Dopesick.
It’s possible to change people’s minds and it starts by touching their hearts. This book does that.
Dr. John Burton in Roanoke, VA, helped to change the emergency department healthcare protocols as a result of being better informed by Beth Macy’s book Dopesick.
It’s possible to change people’s minds and it starts by touching their hearts. This book does that.
April 24, 2020
I previously read Dopesick: Dealers, Doctors, and the Drug Company that Addicted America two years ago, which was a very heartbreaking story about all the lives ruined by the opioid crisis in Central Appalachia. The most disturbing one involved a young mother named Theresa (Tess) Henry, a woman who struggled for years trying to overcome her heroin addiction while simultaneously raising a baby.
This audio book is a continuation of Tess' story where you actually listen to the author's interviews with Tess, her parents, the voice of her young toddler, along with interviews with all her drug counselors, teachers, high school friends, and even Tess' grandfather.
This sequel immediately (*spoiler alert*) describes Tess' ultimate fate after she was turning tricks for drug money on the streets of Las Vegas . . . before somebody murdered and abandoned her to rot in a dumpster outside a cheap motel. Ironically, I had a former coworker who also died of an overdose in Las Vegas, which made Tess' outcome even more personal.
After reading the first book, hearing the voices of all the victims in Tess' story could be agonizing, and the author's criticisms of the failures in American drug rehabilitation could be surprising, especially when describing how AA treatments for drug addicts ignored reality.
For example, AA teaches alcoholics that their only cure is abstinence, and claimed using drug substitutes for addiction (such as methadone or saboxone) didn't qualify . . . which GUARANTEED fatal outcomes for the very victims they were supposed to help.
And unlike most drug addicts, Tess had an enormous number of wealthy friends and family members who tried to intervene on her behalf, yet their assistance only led many to later resent and hate her, especially those siblings who could never forgave their sister. But Tess' mom never abandoned her, even after her daughter physically attacked her while high on methamphetamine.
Ultimately, Tess abandoned a beautiful child while leaving behind grandparents fighting bitter custody battles over him after her death. Which means . . . avoid this audiobook if you're looking for a happy ending.
This audio book is a continuation of Tess' story where you actually listen to the author's interviews with Tess, her parents, the voice of her young toddler, along with interviews with all her drug counselors, teachers, high school friends, and even Tess' grandfather.
This sequel immediately (*spoiler alert*) describes Tess' ultimate fate after she was turning tricks for drug money on the streets of Las Vegas . . . before somebody murdered and abandoned her to rot in a dumpster outside a cheap motel. Ironically, I had a former coworker who also died of an overdose in Las Vegas, which made Tess' outcome even more personal.
After reading the first book, hearing the voices of all the victims in Tess' story could be agonizing, and the author's criticisms of the failures in American drug rehabilitation could be surprising, especially when describing how AA treatments for drug addicts ignored reality.
For example, AA teaches alcoholics that their only cure is abstinence, and claimed using drug substitutes for addiction (such as methadone or saboxone) didn't qualify . . . which GUARANTEED fatal outcomes for the very victims they were supposed to help.
And unlike most drug addicts, Tess had an enormous number of wealthy friends and family members who tried to intervene on her behalf, yet their assistance only led many to later resent and hate her, especially those siblings who could never forgave their sister. But Tess' mom never abandoned her, even after her daughter physically attacked her while high on methamphetamine.
Ultimately, Tess abandoned a beautiful child while leaving behind grandparents fighting bitter custody battles over him after her death. Which means . . . avoid this audiobook if you're looking for a happy ending.
April 27, 2020
I haven’t read DOPESICK AMERICA, although I have wanted to. This was available as a freebie on audible originals and I downloaded it just to get an idea. I’m glad I did. I already have strong feelings about Big Pharma, opiate addiction, etc., so perhaps I was the prime audience. But I learned a lot.
Discovered in a Las Vegas dumpster, Tess Henry died of a brutal beating a few years after participating in DOPESICK AMERICA, in which she helped the author uncover and chronicle the story of the widely available, addictive, and legal substances that have made so many pharmacists, doctors, drug company reps, and congressman rich, and so many poor and middle class Americans sick and dying from addiction. Tess’ story was like so many: she started with a few pills, graduated to more, and eventually to shooting heroine. On and off of suboxones, in and out of rehabs, psych wards, and jail, Tess was struggling to get her life together and to keep custody of her son. But at some point, the system abandoned Tess. The system of doctors, hospitals, drug companies, and politicians that had conspired in Tess’ addiction also indicted - even obstructed - her access to the medications that she needed to keep her from getting dopesick every time she tried to get clean. And so, again and again, she turned to street drugs. Whether you agree with her or not, Tess eventually felt the streets were a better option than the system. I can imagine her thinking it was a short term solution, only to be confronted by her sometime pimp and dealer in a rage on the streets of Las Vegas.
Tess’ mother Pat tries to understand how and why her beautiful, talented, promising daughter - the child of a nurse and surgeon in upper middle class Roanoke Virginia - could have met such a brutal and lonely end. Tess’ story resonated with me, and reminded me: we have a long way to go before Americans are safe from legal drugs.
Discovered in a Las Vegas dumpster, Tess Henry died of a brutal beating a few years after participating in DOPESICK AMERICA, in which she helped the author uncover and chronicle the story of the widely available, addictive, and legal substances that have made so many pharmacists, doctors, drug company reps, and congressman rich, and so many poor and middle class Americans sick and dying from addiction. Tess’ story was like so many: she started with a few pills, graduated to more, and eventually to shooting heroine. On and off of suboxones, in and out of rehabs, psych wards, and jail, Tess was struggling to get her life together and to keep custody of her son. But at some point, the system abandoned Tess. The system of doctors, hospitals, drug companies, and politicians that had conspired in Tess’ addiction also indicted - even obstructed - her access to the medications that she needed to keep her from getting dopesick every time she tried to get clean. And so, again and again, she turned to street drugs. Whether you agree with her or not, Tess eventually felt the streets were a better option than the system. I can imagine her thinking it was a short term solution, only to be confronted by her sometime pimp and dealer in a rage on the streets of Las Vegas.
Tess’ mother Pat tries to understand how and why her beautiful, talented, promising daughter - the child of a nurse and surgeon in upper middle class Roanoke Virginia - could have met such a brutal and lonely end. Tess’ story resonated with me, and reminded me: we have a long way to go before Americans are safe from legal drugs.
July 4, 2020
Managed to delete my review in a moment of idiocy, so when I read (or rather listen to) this is guesswork, but either way it was worth it. If you've read Macy's Dopesick: Dealers, Doctors, and the Drug Company that Addicted America, you're already familiar with part of Tess's tragic story. Here, Macy revisits her case, retracing the footsteps that ended with the brutal murder of a young single mother battling opioid addiction, giving voice to a victim of America's opiod crisis who can no longer speak for herself.
April 12, 2020
Free Audible orginal. Tess Henry was one of the addicts in Dopesick. I haven't read that yet, but I had no problem understanding this audiobook. The style is a little similar to a podcast as there are interviews with friends and family members in addition to the author's contibution.
Tess was found dead in a dumpster in Las Vegas on Christmas Eve 2017. The audiobook, is her mother trying to figure out how Tess got there from an upper middle class home in Roanoke, VA.
Her parents, a surgeon and a nurse, divorced and addiction runs in the family. Tess had some history of drinking and had friends who did Oxy, but things really went bad for her when she was prescribed 30 days worth of opioid painkillers for bronchitis. When the pills ran out, she went through withdrawal and sought out more to ease the symptoms. From there, she went through multiple rehabs, relapses, and brushes with the law while pushing away most of her family.
She ended up in a rehab in Las Vegas, paid for by her mother and grandfather. When that didn't work out, she was living on the streets while trying to find a way back to Virginia that didn't involve going through withdrawal on a 3 day bus trip.
Her mother and the author retrace Tess's journey in Las Vegas at the end of her life. We meet people in the addiction community who tried to help her. Her mother didn't realize the full extent of her predicament and now wishes she had gone there, searched for her, and brought her home before it was too late. I'm not sure it would have made any difference, but I understand her dismay at having taken the tough love approach when it didn't work out.
The author also goes into detail about the politics of addiction treatment. Some people are adamantly opposed to treatments like suboxone and methadone. People who are on these replacement medications are sometimes shunned by those in favor of 12 step style programs - including some doctors and judges. Some programs won't take clients unless they are already off drugs, but they find it impossible to make it through the withdrawal sickness, so they're in a catch 22 situation.
I don't know if "enjoyed" is the right word to describe listening to this, but it was moving and informative. I look forward to reading Dopesick.
Tess was found dead in a dumpster in Las Vegas on Christmas Eve 2017. The audiobook, is her mother trying to figure out how Tess got there from an upper middle class home in Roanoke, VA.
Her parents, a surgeon and a nurse, divorced and addiction runs in the family. Tess had some history of drinking and had friends who did Oxy, but things really went bad for her when she was prescribed 30 days worth of opioid painkillers for bronchitis. When the pills ran out, she went through withdrawal and sought out more to ease the symptoms. From there, she went through multiple rehabs, relapses, and brushes with the law while pushing away most of her family.
She ended up in a rehab in Las Vegas, paid for by her mother and grandfather. When that didn't work out, she was living on the streets while trying to find a way back to Virginia that didn't involve going through withdrawal on a 3 day bus trip.
Her mother and the author retrace Tess's journey in Las Vegas at the end of her life. We meet people in the addiction community who tried to help her. Her mother didn't realize the full extent of her predicament and now wishes she had gone there, searched for her, and brought her home before it was too late. I'm not sure it would have made any difference, but I understand her dismay at having taken the tough love approach when it didn't work out.
The author also goes into detail about the politics of addiction treatment. Some people are adamantly opposed to treatments like suboxone and methadone. People who are on these replacement medications are sometimes shunned by those in favor of 12 step style programs - including some doctors and judges. Some programs won't take clients unless they are already off drugs, but they find it impossible to make it through the withdrawal sickness, so they're in a catch 22 situation.
I don't know if "enjoyed" is the right word to describe listening to this, but it was moving and informative. I look forward to reading Dopesick.
December 18, 2019
I loved and appreciated Beth Macy's magnificent work in Dopesick, and I was riveted by this Audible-exclusive audio follow up to the story of Tess Henry, whose struggle to overcome her opiate addiction was so deftly and heartbreakingly told by Macy in Dopesick. This unique Audible audio documentary follows Beth Macy and Patricia, the mother of Tess, on a journey to Las Vegas to understand more about the final months of Tess's life, with the hint that they just might find some information on her murder. Beth Macy is a powerful journalist and deft storyteller, and this is SUCH an important story. I wish everyone in America (especially politicians and anyone with a loved one with an opioid use disorder) would read Dopesick.
This follow-up, however, felt somehow less authentic than Dopesick, and I think it's simply, understandably, because of how close the author got with the subject and her family during the work of the first book. She is clearly very emotionally attached to Tess Henry and her mother. Macy is honest in disclosing her closeness and emotional connection, and it's that connection that allows us so deeply into Tess's family, but it also leads her to draw a picture of Tess that felt, at times, like she was put on a pedestal as a saintly figure who is only a victim of a series of unfortunate and unfair circumstances, with no agency whatsoever in her own fate. This is not to say that I blame Tess for her death - she was murdered by a murderer, entirely not her fault. Nor do I blame Tess for the failures and weaknesses of a medically unsound, abstinence-based treatment network that does such a disservice to people who need medically-assisted treatment for opioid addiction. But the book does seem to gloss over the tsunami of damage that Tess wrought in the lives of the people around her.
Macy dances delicately on the edge of conflicts within Tess's family - her mother's enabling (and then deep regrets that she set stronger boundaries at the end, when more of her previous enabling might have at least prolonged Tess's life), her father and sister's belief in the "rock-bottom" myth that proponents of faith-based abstinence approaches like AA follow, the grandfather who keeps throwing money at the problem, all trying their best to save Tess but also live their lives and insulate themselves from the chaos and destruction around Tess. In this way, the Henrys are every family who has tried to navigate the sometimes-impossible challenge of loving an opioid addict back to health in the face of insurmountable systemic barriers to effective treatment. Patricia, in particular, is cursed with the terrible dual guilt of being told that she over-enabled Tess but also feeling that if she had just done more, her critics be damned, her beloved daughter might still be alive. She did the best that any mother could do, just love as best she could, imperfectly, as we all do. If love were enough, Tess would be alive today. She had an abundance of that, and it is not Patricia's fault that Tess is dead.
The short book ends, somewhat frustratingly, with no answers. Endless questions, with a slightly hopeful note that emergency treatment in Roanoke, VA, Tess's hometown, has improved somewhat with access to medication-assisted treatment in the ER setting for opioid addicts, something that may have saved Tess's life if she had been able to maintain steady access to the medication. I'm hopeful this important book may help reduce the stigma against MAT, especially among addicts themselves, and may help other families know they are not alone in their struggles to navigate and set healthy boundaries through a loved one's addiction and treatment.
What is really clear from Finding Tess, and what I wish everyone would understand, is that the AA model of waiting for the addict to hit "rock bottom" before they can find recovery is an utter and complete LIE. It's a lethal myth that is contributing unnecessarily to the deaths of young women heroin addicts. When you are a beautiful young woman with a heroin addiction, there is literally NO rock bottom but death. Sex trafficking is an ever-present trap, and sex work means there is an endless, endless supply of money for heroin. It was literally impossible for Tess to reach the "rock bottom" that adherents to the AA 12-step model think that loved ones should allow an addict to reach -- friendless, broke, literally at the end of their rope. For a young woman, there is always a deeper, darker bottom, as there is ALWAYS a demand for sex work. Loved ones should NOT wait for this mythical bottom to appear. Rapes, diseases, overdoses, and murder are far, far more likely to appear than a rock bottom that makes the addict suddenly, magically want to stop using. Tess Henry *wanted* to stop all along. But the ubiquitous availability of money through sex work (or trafficking) made it far, far more navigable to keep using than to stop, given the lack of effective, available treatment options. Beth Macy illustrates this truth through Tess's story with heartbreaking effectiveness.
The unconventional format of this audio documentary includes audio from Tess herself (taken during research for Dopesick) and interviews with her family, friends, and others, which makes it a unique and Rich listening experience. Highly recommended.
This follow-up, however, felt somehow less authentic than Dopesick, and I think it's simply, understandably, because of how close the author got with the subject and her family during the work of the first book. She is clearly very emotionally attached to Tess Henry and her mother. Macy is honest in disclosing her closeness and emotional connection, and it's that connection that allows us so deeply into Tess's family, but it also leads her to draw a picture of Tess that felt, at times, like she was put on a pedestal as a saintly figure who is only a victim of a series of unfortunate and unfair circumstances, with no agency whatsoever in her own fate. This is not to say that I blame Tess for her death - she was murdered by a murderer, entirely not her fault. Nor do I blame Tess for the failures and weaknesses of a medically unsound, abstinence-based treatment network that does such a disservice to people who need medically-assisted treatment for opioid addiction. But the book does seem to gloss over the tsunami of damage that Tess wrought in the lives of the people around her.
Macy dances delicately on the edge of conflicts within Tess's family - her mother's enabling (and then deep regrets that she set stronger boundaries at the end, when more of her previous enabling might have at least prolonged Tess's life), her father and sister's belief in the "rock-bottom" myth that proponents of faith-based abstinence approaches like AA follow, the grandfather who keeps throwing money at the problem, all trying their best to save Tess but also live their lives and insulate themselves from the chaos and destruction around Tess. In this way, the Henrys are every family who has tried to navigate the sometimes-impossible challenge of loving an opioid addict back to health in the face of insurmountable systemic barriers to effective treatment. Patricia, in particular, is cursed with the terrible dual guilt of being told that she over-enabled Tess but also feeling that if she had just done more, her critics be damned, her beloved daughter might still be alive. She did the best that any mother could do, just love as best she could, imperfectly, as we all do. If love were enough, Tess would be alive today. She had an abundance of that, and it is not Patricia's fault that Tess is dead.
The short book ends, somewhat frustratingly, with no answers. Endless questions, with a slightly hopeful note that emergency treatment in Roanoke, VA, Tess's hometown, has improved somewhat with access to medication-assisted treatment in the ER setting for opioid addicts, something that may have saved Tess's life if she had been able to maintain steady access to the medication. I'm hopeful this important book may help reduce the stigma against MAT, especially among addicts themselves, and may help other families know they are not alone in their struggles to navigate and set healthy boundaries through a loved one's addiction and treatment.
What is really clear from Finding Tess, and what I wish everyone would understand, is that the AA model of waiting for the addict to hit "rock bottom" before they can find recovery is an utter and complete LIE. It's a lethal myth that is contributing unnecessarily to the deaths of young women heroin addicts. When you are a beautiful young woman with a heroin addiction, there is literally NO rock bottom but death. Sex trafficking is an ever-present trap, and sex work means there is an endless, endless supply of money for heroin. It was literally impossible for Tess to reach the "rock bottom" that adherents to the AA 12-step model think that loved ones should allow an addict to reach -- friendless, broke, literally at the end of their rope. For a young woman, there is always a deeper, darker bottom, as there is ALWAYS a demand for sex work. Loved ones should NOT wait for this mythical bottom to appear. Rapes, diseases, overdoses, and murder are far, far more likely to appear than a rock bottom that makes the addict suddenly, magically want to stop using. Tess Henry *wanted* to stop all along. But the ubiquitous availability of money through sex work (or trafficking) made it far, far more navigable to keep using than to stop, given the lack of effective, available treatment options. Beth Macy illustrates this truth through Tess's story with heartbreaking effectiveness.
The unconventional format of this audio documentary includes audio from Tess herself (taken during research for Dopesick) and interviews with her family, friends, and others, which makes it a unique and Rich listening experience. Highly recommended.
November 25, 2019
An audible original continuation of Beth Macy's amazing book Dopesick. I think Beth Macy is so great - had the pleasure of meeting her at the National Book Festival this year.
April 21, 2020
Moving yet very heartbreaking. 😰
April 28, 2020
Emotionally touching. Reminds me of the days I did Psych nursing. A must read!
April 28, 2020
Follow up to Dopesick. Eye opening.
May 26, 2020
But for the grace of God go I......
September 10, 2020
A phenomenal, honest look into the opioid crisis in America. The way we deal with addiction, and the heartbreaking true story of Tess her fall to addiction and her subsequent murder.
April 25, 2020
3.5 stars
I listened to this free Audible book, and I have to say, as far as freebies go, this one was worthwhile. It's more of a podcast-style documentary that follows up on one of the addicts from Macy's previous book, "Dopesick." The topic is important, and I appreciated the journalistic style of the audiobook.
I listened to this free Audible book, and I have to say, as far as freebies go, this one was worthwhile. It's more of a podcast-style documentary that follows up on one of the addicts from Macy's previous book, "Dopesick." The topic is important, and I appreciated the journalistic style of the audiobook.
September 12, 2020
This was the story of Tess Henry and her battle with an addiction to heroin. I have seen first hand how crucial aftercare is for individuals with substance abuse disorders and how barriers are to the left and to the right for people who are grappling to find recovery, especially when they aren't insured or who have government aided insurance. However, even with insurance, treatment options and the patience of healthcare workers appears to dwindle with each relapse. Getting to know Tess, her mom Patricia, and her son Ronan through their own words and voices which were shared throughout the audiobook in an interview format, made it hard to stop listening. The details of Tess's murder, during a time that she desperately wanted to get home, created a glaring insight to how deeply a substance abuse disorder can alter a person's life and lives of those who love them.
May 13, 2020
Every. Person. In. America. Should. Listen. To. This. Story. It is so enlightening about drugs, users, the health system.
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