It is my stop today for WOW! Women On Writing’s tour for Sarah Dickinson’s book, Silver Spoons: One’s Journey Through Addiction. This book offers a detailed insights into the life of a recovering addict, living in rehab. This was a hard book for me to read because of the content. Let’s take a quick look at the synopsis.
Silver Spoons: One’s Journey Through Addiction takes an intimate and raw look at the current face of addiction and recovery. Talking about the current opioid epidemic, we follow a young couple while one of them goes through the recovery process. Told through letters, we get an understanding of their relationship as it struggles through his addiction and resulting recovery. From detox, rehab, sober living and the 12 steps of A.A, you get a raw and honest look at the effects of addiction and how they affect relationships.
Content Note: There is explicit and graphic content.
Why I chose to read Silver Spoons
I have not been a part of the Western society for very long. In my shadowed upbringing in India, addiction, mental health and drugs did not play any role in my life. It is only that I have grown older, developed my own social life and started to learn about these things that my curiosity about this topic has grown. This book came a good time when I was ready to read about it.
Themes for Thought
Silver Spoons is a raw narrative about a relationship between a recovering addict and his beloved. Written in the form of letters exchanged between the two, we meet Baby, the guy who is in rehab, and Beautiful, his beloved. Between the letters, there are also first person narratives of how the two met and how they got to the point when he decided to check himself into a rehabilitation center.
This book gave me much to think about and I want to highlight two things that I had not thought about in relation to addiction and recovering from addition before.
On Identities
Who I’ve been isn’t the person I really am, and the person I really am is going to treat you so much better.
Silver Spoons (pg 10)
How does an addict feel? Do they know that the high that they are seeking is taking them away from the people they love? Do they feel guilty for doing what they do? Do they believe the person they are isn’t the person they really are?
Silver Spoons made me ponder these questions especially as the protagonist shared his rehab journey and going through A.A.
On Balance
I need to find my balance before I pick what I want to do.
Silver Spoons (pg 158)
Balance is something we are all learning to find, and though I suspected it to be hard for someone who was addicted and is recovering, or has made up their mind to change their ways, Silver Spoons truly showed the struggles.
Overall, I liked the message that this book was trying to get across. The storytelling was at times too corny for me to handle. But that aside, writing about heroin addiction is not small feat and I really appreciated the window into that life. I am thankful to Sarah for giving me access to that world in a safe manner.
Love is sometimes all we have to keep us going on the tough path that we have chosen.
** Silver Spoons: One’s Journey Through Addiction is available in stores. **
Amazon Print
Amazon Kindle
If you want to know more about the book, check out other stops on the tour. See full list here. Come back tomorrow to check out my interview with Sarah!
Cover image: Photo by David McCumskay on Unsplash
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