Sobering: Lessons Learnt the Hard Way on Drinking, Thinking and Quitting

‘Unique, honest, witty, occasionally shocking, you need this uplifting, amazing book in your life.’ Steve Bland, You, Me and the Big C

‘I don’t know if I was born with it, caught it or bought it; I just know that, at some point in my life, a line was crossed: I needed a drink to get through life, to calm the nerves and quiet the head, and I became reliant on alcohol to change how I felt.’

Sobering is the story of an insecure teenager turned Liverpudlian party girl, schoolteacher turned alcoholic and now recovering alcoholic turned award-winning podcaster. Melissa’s story is as dramatic as her unique voice, but her message is universal: mental health issues often drive vulnerable people to addiction and working on mental health and personal development can help recovery.

Written with the expert help of rehab and addiction specialists, and with insights from other recovering alcoholics and addicts, Sobering covers everything from denial, isolation and shame to getting help and rebuilding relationships.

This is a personal story with a mission: to help anyone worried about their drinking to understand themselves and move forward with wisdom to make that hardest decision of all – to stay sober.

‘Melissa’s unique combination of authenticity, personal experience and humour makes for an incredibly refreshing take on addiction and recovery. A much-needed book that will help individuals to find hope and society to rethink substance misuse.’ Shahroo Izadi, author of The Kindness Method

Melissa Rice is one half of successful BBC Radio 5 Live podcast Hooked: The Unexpected Addicts, which won Broadcasting Press Guild Radio Programme of the Year 2020, BBC Best Community Podcast 2020 and a Silver British Podcast Award. Melissa was, until 2016, a primary school teacher. After hospitalisation for her alcohol addiction and a period of rehabilitation at Clouds House she submitted a winning pitch for the podcast Hooked: The Unexpected Addicts with her friend from rehab, Jade Wye, for the Rachael Bland New Podcast Award. Hooked’s aim is to debunk the stereotypes of who and what an addict is, interviewing real people, with regular lives, whose voices are rarely heard. With help from the Amy Winehouse Foundation Melissa now lives in London.