You Left Early: A True Story of Love and Alcohol - Hardcover

Louisa Young

4.02

410 ratings by Goodreads

9780008265175: You Left Early: A True Story of Love and Alcohol

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0008265178 ISBN 13: 9780008265175

Publisher: The Borough Press, 2018

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'Spectacular. I can't stop thinking about it. Louisa Young is a beautiful, beautiful writer' Cathy Rentzenbrink, author of The Last Act of LoveThis brutal, beautiful memoir from award-winning novelist Louisa Young is a heartbreaking portrayal of love, grief and the merciless grip of addiction.Louisa first met Robert Lockhart when they were both 17. Their stop-start romance lasted decades, in which time he became a celebrated composer and she, an acclaimed novelist. Always snapping at their heels was Robert's alcoholism, a helpless, ferocious dependency that affected his personality before crippling and finally, despite five years of hard-won sobriety, killing him.There are a million love stories, and a million stories of addiction. This one is truly transcendent. It is at once a compelling portrait of a unique and charismatic man; a bittersweet reflection on an all-consuming love affair; and a completely honest and incredibly affecting guide to how the partner of an alcoholic can possibly survive when the disease rips both their lives apart.This is a hugely important book - raw and unflinching but also uplifting and elegiac, it should be essential reading for anybody who's ever lost someone they loved.

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About the Author:

Louisa Young was born in London and read history at Cambridge. She co-wrote the Lionboy series with her daughter, and is the author of eight further books including the bestselling My Dear I Wanted to Tell You, which was shortlisted for the Costa Novel Award, and was a Richard and Judy Book Club choice, and its acclaimed sequels The Heroes' Welcome and Devotion. Her work is published in 36 languages. She lives in London.

Review:

`Spectacular. I can't stop thinking about it. Louisa Young is a beautiful, beautiful writer and there is great courage and love in the way she addresses her subject. It's the portrait of a man and his times and his illness told with love but also with an unflinching honesty that feels like a great gift to the reader' Cathy Rentzenbrink, author of The Last Act of Love `An extraordinarily candid bereavement memoir... As much as it's an overwhelming love letter, Young's book is also a sobering reminder of the devastating effects of alcoholism, not just on an individual's life, but on everyone else around them' Evening Standard `The most riveting, heartbreaking book I've ever read about addiction, but above all about the nature of love. Already one of my books of the year' Linda Grant `Louisa Young's memoir of her long, bruising love for musical genius Robert Lockhart is as honest as the morning after and the best account of loving against all sense since Penelope Mortimer's The Pumpkin Eater' Patrick Gale `If the greatest act of devotion is to conjure the dead beloved in all their vivid, imperfect, mesmerising humanity, then Louisa Young's book is a memorial to equal the Taj Mahal. Anyone who has ever loved an alcoholic (be that a partner, parent, friend or relative) will find that the author's insights and breathtaking honesty will salve their wounds, as well as help them better understand the most devastating of addictions' Rowan Pelling `I'm still fucking crying. And its such a great work of art. I wish I'd read it before I worked as a drug and alcohol counsellor' Philippa Perry `I am upset, astonished, compelled, grateful. The sheer work of loving comes through, the understanding that it took. The toll. And yet she continues to spread the understanding. Quite brilliant' Suzanne Moore `Oh my God, it's so beautiful, and heartbreaking, and true' Sam Baker, The Pool

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