Sober Mercies

How Love Caught Up with a Christian Drunk

Non-Fiction - Audiobook
224 Pages
Reviewed on 08/19/2013
Buy on Amazon

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    Book Review

Reviewed by Mary DeKok Blowers for Readers' Favorite

Sober Mercies, by Heather Kopp, is a frightening look behind the scenes of the social alcoholic. Heather thought for the longest time that she couldn’t be an alcoholic, because she was a Christian, and she couldn’t believe she was like those people who went to meetings. But she carried mini wine bottles in her purse, had a secret stash at home, and blacked out, forgetting whole evenings until her husband told her how unreasonable she’d become. There was almost no situation she could survive without alcohol, and every night she began drinking at 4 or 5 p.m.

She was amazed that her husband stood by her as he was frequently embarrassed by and the object of her drunken tirades, not to mention the expense of her addiction. Heather tells how this all affected her relationships with her first family, her children, and her step-children, how it affected holiday traditions, and even kept her from taking trips because she was afraid she’d have trouble getting enough alcohol. Her lies and deception will shock you as you hear the great lengths she went to to hide her drinking from friends, family, even her husband, until she could hide it no longer.

Not your typical drunk-turned-sober story, anyone who has ever wondered if they might have a drinking problem should get this audio book, Sober Mercies, by Heather Kopp. I was so embarrassed for her as she outlined her strategies to get and hide alcohol and the intricate lies she told. It was humbling, and yet enlightening, and kept me listening to find out if she, her marriage, and her children, would survive. Would people respect her? Could she ever respect herself? One of the “mercies” of the title is that God still loves us despite our issues, baggage, and sins.