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Unshaming: A Memoir of Recovery, Relapse, and What Comes After
Not yet published
Expected 31 Mar 26The author of Drunk Mom continues her “bravely and beautifully told” story of alcohol addiction in this unsparing memoir about shame and relapse (Lena Dunham)
Raw, honest, and grimly funny—with actionable advice for readers of addiction memoirs like Brené Brown’s Daring Greatly and Sarah Hepola’s Blackout
It’s been over a decade since Jowita Bydlowska published her lightning rod of a memoir on overcoming alcohol addiction as a young mother. Both hailed and criticized for its no-holds-barred transparency, Drunk Mom was—and continues to be—refreshing and revelatory in its gritty exploration of addiction recovery and relapse in the context of new motherhood.
But what happens after the last page is turned, after the “happy ending” of an addiction the world assumes is safely in the rearview? When Bydlowska relapses after the success of her book, her overwhelming sense is one of shame. She struggles to reconcile the knowledge that she’s helped bring comfort and hope to countless readers with her own frustration and mounting fear that the truth will only let others down.
In prose that's by turns harsh and beautiful, tender and devastating, she writes about her ensuing spiral into alcoholism—and the climb back up and out. With the same generosity and grim humor that made Drunk Mom a standout, Bydlowska uses her own story as a vehicle to interrogate and challenge the narrative surrounding addiction, exploring the ways in which the conversation has both evolved and stayed the same over the last decade.
Raw, honest, and grimly funny—with actionable advice for readers of addiction memoirs like Brené Brown’s Daring Greatly and Sarah Hepola’s Blackout
It’s been over a decade since Jowita Bydlowska published her lightning rod of a memoir on overcoming alcohol addiction as a young mother. Both hailed and criticized for its no-holds-barred transparency, Drunk Mom was—and continues to be—refreshing and revelatory in its gritty exploration of addiction recovery and relapse in the context of new motherhood.
But what happens after the last page is turned, after the “happy ending” of an addiction the world assumes is safely in the rearview? When Bydlowska relapses after the success of her book, her overwhelming sense is one of shame. She struggles to reconcile the knowledge that she’s helped bring comfort and hope to countless readers with her own frustration and mounting fear that the truth will only let others down.
In prose that's by turns harsh and beautiful, tender and devastating, she writes about her ensuing spiral into alcoholism—and the climb back up and out. With the same generosity and grim humor that made Drunk Mom a standout, Bydlowska uses her own story as a vehicle to interrogate and challenge the narrative surrounding addiction, exploring the ways in which the conversation has both evolved and stayed the same over the last decade.
288 pages, Paperback
Expected publication March 31, 2026
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About the author
Jowita Bydlowska
13 books178 followersBorn in Poland, live in Canada, published some books.
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February 27, 2026In Unshaming: A Memoir of Recovery, Relapse, and What Comes After, Jowita Bydlowska delivers a raw and unflinching continuation of her recovery story one that courageously examines the complicated terrain of relapse, public identity, and shame.
Where many addiction narratives conclude with resolution, Bydlowska ventures further, interrogating what happens after the celebrated “recovery” arc. Her exploration of relapse is neither sensationalized nor self pitying; instead, it is honest, reflective, and emotionally rigorous. She captures the disorienting paradox of being both a symbol of hope and a person still vulnerable to collapse.
The memoir is especially powerful in its examination of shame not only personal shame, but cultural shame. Bydlowska challenges the expectation that recovery must be linear and that public vulnerability requires perpetual strength. Her prose remains sharp and darkly funny even in its most devastating moments, offering readers both confrontation and comfort.
Unshaming is a necessary addition to the addiction memoir canon one that expands the conversation rather than simply revisiting it. It is brave, generous, and deeply human.
Where many addiction narratives conclude with resolution, Bydlowska ventures further, interrogating what happens after the celebrated “recovery” arc. Her exploration of relapse is neither sensationalized nor self pitying; instead, it is honest, reflective, and emotionally rigorous. She captures the disorienting paradox of being both a symbol of hope and a person still vulnerable to collapse.
The memoir is especially powerful in its examination of shame not only personal shame, but cultural shame. Bydlowska challenges the expectation that recovery must be linear and that public vulnerability requires perpetual strength. Her prose remains sharp and darkly funny even in its most devastating moments, offering readers both confrontation and comfort.
Unshaming is a necessary addition to the addiction memoir canon one that expands the conversation rather than simply revisiting it. It is brave, generous, and deeply human.
Review of advance copy received from Publisher
Typically, I’m not much of a memoir reader. Before “Unshaming,” I hadn’t read a memoir since Paul Auster’s “Report From the Interior.” The common thread here is that both Auster and Bydlowska are exceptionally talented writers of fiction. Although it was her previous memoir, the best-seller “Drunk Mom” that is Bydlowska’s claim to fame, it was her novels (Guy, Possessed, Monster) and short stories that drew me to her work.
Bydlowska’s fiction covers topics such as eating disorders, desire and the power imbalance between men and women in relationships, all written with her signature precision and undergirded by her comprehensive understand of human vulnerability. She brings that same clarity and honesty to her memoir-writing, and Unshaming is filled with her trademarked poignancy.
Bydlowska draws the reader in and keeps them close. Her style fits the memoir form perfectly, and compliments that tug-of-war between the exhibitionism of the author and voyeurism of the reader. There are moments in this book that elicit a whirlpool of emotions that both make you want to pause and make you want to go on reading right up to the very last page. For me, Bydlowska’s relationship with her son kept me locked in. A lesser writer would have shared too much or said too little. Bydlowska handles self-awareness and observation so skillfully that we feel simultaneous heartbreak on her behalf and that of her son.
Alcoholism has been a subject that has always fascinated me. There’s a long history of it in my family and so many of our stories talk about its effects without exploring its causes. In Unshaming, Bydlowska explores the motivating factors, and through her in-depth exploration, I feel that I not only better understand my own family, but parts of myself that I struggle to confront.
Unshaming is both deeply personal and alarmingly universal. Readers not only get a glimpse into the author’s life, her soul, but a look into their own. The insights this book offers helps one make sense of their own struggle, not with addiction exclusively, but with shame itself and the connection between trauma, shame, and addiction.
Bydlowska’s fiction covers topics such as eating disorders, desire and the power imbalance between men and women in relationships, all written with her signature precision and undergirded by her comprehensive understand of human vulnerability. She brings that same clarity and honesty to her memoir-writing, and Unshaming is filled with her trademarked poignancy.
Bydlowska draws the reader in and keeps them close. Her style fits the memoir form perfectly, and compliments that tug-of-war between the exhibitionism of the author and voyeurism of the reader. There are moments in this book that elicit a whirlpool of emotions that both make you want to pause and make you want to go on reading right up to the very last page. For me, Bydlowska’s relationship with her son kept me locked in. A lesser writer would have shared too much or said too little. Bydlowska handles self-awareness and observation so skillfully that we feel simultaneous heartbreak on her behalf and that of her son.
Alcoholism has been a subject that has always fascinated me. There’s a long history of it in my family and so many of our stories talk about its effects without exploring its causes. In Unshaming, Bydlowska explores the motivating factors, and through her in-depth exploration, I feel that I not only better understand my own family, but parts of myself that I struggle to confront.
Unshaming is both deeply personal and alarmingly universal. Readers not only get a glimpse into the author’s life, her soul, but a look into their own. The insights this book offers helps one make sense of their own struggle, not with addiction exclusively, but with shame itself and the connection between trauma, shame, and addiction.
Review of advance copy received from Author
How does one review a memoir? It feels off to be forming any opinion on someone sharing their story, particularly one that is this deeply personal. But here I am. I felt so heart broken and sad for Jowita and her son. I read Drunk Mom, and to know that she has struggled mightily still was while not surprising, really sad. It felt like I was taken behind a curtain and shown the depth of pain and yes shame.. and it wasn’t mine to see. But understanding that to see it is to know we aren’t alone. To not be alone is the beginning of hope. I ended the book with a feeling of hope and renewed sense that yes recovery is actually possible. Healing is possible.
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