Elizabeth Jannuzzi writes about loss, motherhood, and recovery from alcoholism. Her essays have been featured in The Rumpus, Memoir Monday, and other publications. A finalist in the 2016 International Literary Penelope Niven Creative Nonfiction Contest, she has received multiple recognitions, including a Best of the Net nomination in 2023. Elizabeth serves as a program director at Project Write Now, a nonprofit writing organization, writes a weekly Substack newsletter, and is currently working on a second memoir about her journey through loss and grief. She lives in Shrewsbury, New Jersey.

For fans of The Many Lives of Mama Love and the many women struggling with addiction while raising families, a candid recovery memoir chronicling one suburban New Jersey mother’s journey from secret vodka binges to sobriety.

Liz Jannuzzi’s life is unraveling: a failing marriage, three young children to care for, and a vodka bottle hidden behind the coffee maker. Her alcoholism, a family legacy that has already claimed her brother’s life, threatens to destroy everything she loves.

When a shocking confession about an affair forces Liz to admit to her drinking problem, she reluctantly attends her first AA meeting. There, surrounded by women who understand her struggles, she’s given a lifeline: “You never have to feel this way again.” She commits to getting sober—and through the Twelve Steps, she confronts the wreckage of her past while rebuilding her marriage and reclaiming her role as a mother.

With unflinching honesty and unexpected humor—never once shying away from the messiness of recovery (the awkward amends, the persistent cravings, the haunting grief that alcohol once numbed)—Liz takes readers through her journey from hiding empty bottles to celebrating milestones of sobriety. In doing so, she illuminates the complex challenges of motherhood and marriage and offers hope to anyone struggling with alcoholism. Raw and heartfelt, Sober Mom is a powerful testament to resilience and the possibility of transformation, one day at a time.