Woman of Substances: A Journey into Addiction and Treatment

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Emma's life goes on. Her children marry and have children of their own – Edwina, Kit and Robin have one child each, Elizabeth marries repeatedly and has four and Daisy marries and has two, one of whom is Paula. Many of the addiction memoirs I’ve read don’t reference childhood trauma… But to flip that into reverse, it’s rare for a trauma story not to involve addiction. What I’m surprised to learn is that there’s a physiological component to trauma. Biologically, a girl who experiences it in early life will undergo significant changes in her body and brain. There’s a massive rise in the stress hormone cortisol, which triggers a whole chain of reactions. …Her biological systems are set at a sensitive threshold and she doesn’t have the usual biochemistry that lets her be resilient in the face of the next trauma and the next trauma. But what does so often define a woman of substance is that she is smart, and usually in varied ways.

As she tells her story, Valentish identifies a series of shortcomings of the medical and addiction treatment industries which have failed to understand and communicate how substance abuse affects women. “I had no idea that this was the case when I started writing,” she says. “I was just going to write about the female experience [of addiction] – there was going to be no call to arms.”

Be a "Woman of Substance"

I read it 30 years ago in my bookclub and I am currently re-reading it. I read the series, each about the next generation of the Harte family, and enjoyed them immensely, but each book stands alone with satisfying endings. Women are never stronger than when they arm themselves with their weaknesses.” Madame Marie du Deffand

Because more men than women seek treatment for substance abuse, the majority of addiction research has been on men. That’s part of the reason this is an important book. Valentish discusses her own chaotic alcohol and drug use as well as the specific challenges women face with substance use and access to help. It sounds obvious, but so many people still go around blaming their mood or their circumstances on other people or things. In straightforward, lively prose she relates even her darkest moments without self-pity or aggrandisement, and often with a streak of gallows humour, leading to more laugh-out-loud lines than you might expect.” The Saturday Paper Women, Valentish says she heard time and time again while researching the book, are also more likely than men to abuse drugs and alcohol as a means of self-medicating the symptoms of mental illness. Mir grew up in the city of Bradford and she tells me that her family is from Karachi, but of Kashmiri origin. She has fond memories of school holidays spent at her maternal grandmother’s house in PECHS in Karachi (at this point in the conversation we digress slightly as we both share our memories of Tariq Road and PECHS and Silver Spoon kebab rolls and so on).

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She does all of this with reference to her own experiences which are honest (brutally so, at times), troubling but also relatable.

This inner understanding also means that they are in the driving seat of their own life, as we’ll see next. 9. You take full responsibility for yourself Addiction results from a complex set of reasons including trauma as a child. Genetics plays a big role, as does learned behavior (drinking gave me solace before, so I’ll try it again). She wears the things that she likes, regardless of whether they’re on trend or the height of fashion. Woman of Substances will resonate with women readers who have never really questioned the role that patriarchy has played in their drinking habits.” Vice Valentish does a fantastic job of covering addiction through the lens of gender and does not espouse a one-size fits all approach. Highly recommend.

12. You give back

She realizes that some things can be better left unsaid. And as for the things that do need to be spoken, it matters how they’re delivered. This is the story of Emma Harte, a poverty ridden young woman employed by a wealthy family, who eventually works her way to the top of a rich and powerful business empire. Her personal disappointments, hardships, loves and losses all play a role in solidifying Emma’s fortitude, as her instincts for human nature develops, helping her to become a wizened, formidable businesswoman. A Woman of Substance by Barbara Taylor Bradford is a 2014 RosettaBooks publication. (originally published in 1979) When it comes to party drugs, women are more at risk of water intoxication and hyponatremia (low sodium) – which accounted for the deaths of Leah Betts in the UK and Anna Wood in Sydney.