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Books

Recovering Myself

This memoir in poetry describes my journey into and through sobriety.  It is divided into three sections.  The first contains poems from my 20s and 30s, when I needed both booze and men to make  me whole.  The second focuses on my early years of recovery as I found myself and woke up to my life and the many small joys it always held.  The third is about the losses I’ve experienced in sobriety and how I lived through them without a drink or other substance to numb the pain.  All together, they describe the journey of self discovery that the AA program makes possible - and indeed seems a requirement for continuous sobriety.

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Quotes

“Alcoholism is slow-motion suicide. Molly McKaughan endured unspeakable tragedy and sank toward despair. These poems are quietly beautiful meditations on lives she lost and the one she saved, her own. It is a guidepost on the path back from oblivion.”

Jed Horne,

author Desire Street and Breach of Faith

“A collection of heartfelt and insightful reflections on one woman’s extraordinary journey searching to find her truth.”

Zara Phillips,

author of Somebody's Daughter - a moving journey of discovery, recovery and adoption

“Molly’s poems reflect the miracle of AA, how we learn to live with both joy and sorrow without a drink in hand. Indeed, this is the miracle of our fellowship.”

Helen J.,

a sober sister

© 2019 by Molly McKaughan. Proudly created by Tracey Diamond Designs.

On April 29, 1995, I had my last drink. It was not a momentous occasion, and I didn't even drink that much that night, but in my head was a little voice saying, over and over: "Can I have more? Can I have more?" Even as I talked to a good friend, booze had me by the throat. On June 10th of that year I walked into my first AA meeting and found people of my own kind. People talked about alcohol in a way I understood and had never shared with another living soul. It was the first day of a journey of discovery, of connections, of pain, and through it all, I have not had to disappear down a bottle of booze. This book tells that journey in poetry.

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