Shannan Mondor’s HOW IN THE HELL DID I GET HERE? is a painfully frank and searingly honest autobiographical account of her journey from an abusive childhood into chronic alcoholism and her subsequent recovery. Mondor shares her story as a means to show others that there are ways to escape from addiction and that nobody need ever give up hope. A better life is within everybody’s reach.
The origin of Mondor’s problems lay in her family background and she identifies the genetic root of her alcoholism as being her father, a Jekyll and Hyde character prone to acts of violence often targeted at her mother and eldest brother Walter. After the death of her father, Walter took on a lot of the responsibilities of being the head of the household, which sadly lead him to replicate many of their father’s worse character traits. Walter himself became the abuser and Mondor continued to suffer. As she explains within the book, the trauma of her childhood would have long-lasting effects, the extent of which she would not properly recognize until much of the damage had been done. At times of turmoil as an adult, she would succumb to terrible flashbacks of her childhood, which would lead to intense stress and she would self-medicate with alcohol. Before she even realized it was happening she had become an alcoholic and was letting down her children and herself. Mondor’s first attempt at breaking free of alcohol was at a residential unit. It worked, but only for a year. A family event triggered a relapse. There is bravery in Mondor’s description of her relapse as there is throughout the rest of the book. Nothing is sugar-coated and she stresses that there is no easy route to recovery. It takes guts and perseverance.
In the second section of the book Mondor shares the hard lessons she has learned and it is these parts that will prove most useful to anybody in a similar situation. A key phrase the author found herself returning to was, “Thank you for doing me wrong.” It’s a phrase she states has changed her life forever. She was finally able to recognize that all of her trials and everybody that had hurt her had succeeded in empowering her and making her stronger. She has managed to turn the wrongs around and emerge a powerful new person.
In a frank autobiographical account of alcoholism, mental illness and recovery, Shannan Mondor shares her story. HOW IN THE HELL DID I GET HERE? demonstrates that there are ways to beat addiction and is ultimately a story of hope.
~Kent Lane for IndieReader