The Unexpected Joy Of Being Sober: Catherine Gray

Catherine Gray woke up in a Brixton police cell at 27 years old. When the officers handed back her belongings, the only thing she had on her was a tiny pink glittery hairbrush that wasn't hers. No phone. No keys. No purse. Just a child's hairbrush she'd picked up off a dirty floor at some point during the night.

You'd think that would be the moment she stopped. She drank for six more years.

Catherine is the bestselling author of The Unexpected Joy of Being Sober and Sunshine Warm Sober. She's almost eight years alcohol-free, and she's one of the most clear-eyed voices on what nobody tells you about long-term sobriety. The slumps. The advertising propaganda. The boundary work. The friends who don't remember your soberversary. The corruption inside the alcohol industry.

You'll hear about: the failed moderation experiments that ate six years of her life; the litre of vodka a night Dave was drinking; what AA gave her even though it wasn't her path; and why year six of sobriety nearly broke her.

If you've ever told yourself you'll just have one more, this one's for you.

Her first book The Unexpected Joy of Being Sober was published by Aster Books on the 28th of December 2017. A tri-brid of a read, it mixes up memoir details of how Catherine quit alcohol in 2013, along with Buzzfeed-style listicles, illuminating interviews with top experts, and over-arching cultural comment. She hopes her book will help reinvent how Britain thinks about being alcohol-free.

Her latest new book Sunshine Warm Sober is out now- Link below.

https://www.waterstones.com/book/sunshine-warm-sober/catherine-gray/9781783253395

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If you want to connect with me via Instagram, you can find me on the instahandle @Soberdave https://www.instagram.com/soberdave/

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Provided below are links for services offering additional help and advice.

https://www.wearewithyou.org.uk/

https://www.drinkaware.co.uk/advice/alcohol-support-services

https://nacoa.org.uk/

https://alcoholchange.org.uk/