How to Grow an Addict by J.A. Wright

This novel has a recommendation on the cover by writer and comedienne Michele A'Court: "I honestly couldn't stop reading it." When a colleague told me she could not put this book down also, I thought I had better read it.

The author was raised in the United States and has lived in New Zealand for 25 years, and has been in recovery from drug addiction for over 30 years.

This is not a memoir: Wright points out that due to blackouts she cannot remember enough; but she did grow up in a family where her parents took pills and alcohol day and night and thought this was what all families did until she went to High School.

In 'How to Grow an Addict' Randall Grace finds herself 'accidentally' in rehab. and looks back on her life and the background, and choices that brought her to rehab. Given pills to sleep by her mother and 'hair of the dog' morning drinks by her father as a pre-teen, this novel is somewhat like watching a train crash; not pleasant but somehow you can't look away.

It is certainly an authentic look at living inside a dysfunctional family.

Posted by Katrina

Catalogue link: How to Grow an Addict