Author of a bestseller about the horrors of being with an alcoholic spouse has revealed how their addiction has destroyed her “beautiful family” in a moving video.
Liz Fraser (a British journalist and author who lives near Venice) posted the video in support of her daughter’s fourth-birthday. In it, she describes how ex-boyfriend’s alcoholism destroyed the childhood dreams that she had for her little girl.
Fraser, 46, released her memoir, Coming Clean. A True Story about Love, Addiction, and Recovery. In September, Fraser described how Mike, who she had fallen in love with, became a victim to addiction and lived a chaotic life.
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Liz Fraser, 46 years old, is pictured here with her baby girl. Coming Clean: A True Stories of Love, Addiction, Recovery is a memoir by Liz Fraser. This week, she posted a Twitter video detailing the disappointments in her dreams and hopes for her baby girl.
Fraser writes that Mike became so addicted to alcohol and anxious at the height of his habit, that it made him unable to function as a normal person.
At one point she writes: ‘We argued whenever we saw each other and the rows were sharp, vicious and worse every time; I was called a b***h, a t**t, a saggy old wench and some words I don’t even know but it’s fair to say they were not entirely complimentary Fife-isms.
“Objects were frequently thrown and kicked. I was told he hated me and ordered to move out of his way or he’d hit me.
‘In one bizarre episode he accused me of getting him kicked out of the hostel where he was staying – “You f***ing moron, they threw all my things out because of you” – when in fact, when I called the hostel to ask about this, it turned out he’d checked himself out, left some things in his room and they’d kindly put them in a box in the office for him to collect.’
She also estimates that his addiction cost her around £25,000, totting up both the money that she gave him and the financial costs she had to bear as a result of his drinking.
Fraser spoke out to her friends about feeling’so damn alone’ when she celebrated her daughter’s birthday with only her, reflecting on how: “I wanted her the best, most happy life possible and my beautiful family. But it all went so wrong.”
Fraser, a mother of four, shared a short clip from the week before her daughter’s fourth birthday. She said that she felt’so damned alone’ celebrating the occasion with her child for the third consecutive year.
She replied, “It is so foolish to record yourself crying and share it on Social Media. However, I am kind of alone out there.
“It’s my girl’s fourth birthday tomorrow. I’m thinking especially of mothers.
This bestseller is about a woman who falls for an addicted man to alcohol. It also discusses the effects on the relationship.
Fraser said, “I can remember holding her, saying hello, when she was born.” She also stated that she wanted her to be happy and have a wonderful life. But, it didn’t go according to plan.
She said, “You have these ideas about what you want for children but you do your best. It makes me sad.”
After sharing her heartfelt video, she thanked her readers and said to her 13,100 Twitter followers: “I’ll be told off because I posted this. But you know…it has been so damned lonely, hard and tomorrow is her fourth birthday, and much has hit home.
“Thank you so much for all the kindnesses you have shown me these past 4 hard years. Thanks for reading my book and for your support.
Fraser and her partner moved to Venice where she ran writing retreats when their daughter was 18 months. Mike became more addicted.
Fraser decided to return to Britain after a conflict that left him enraged and his wife fleeing with their child the next day.
Later, she reveals in a letter that she wrote to her lover, Mike, that she had ruined her life. She later revealed that she suffered severe PTSD from his addictive behavior.
Although her former partner is now in recovery, the couple split before publication.
Mother and daughter now live in Venice; Fraser estimates she’s spent around £25,000 of her own money on dealing with the effects of her former partner’s drinking; he’s currently sober
Coming Clean: a True Story of Love, Addiction and Recovery by Liz Fraser is out now (Bloomsbury Green Tea, £16.99)