Ep. 68 - What Happens When Women Tell the Truth About Drinking with Kerri Maher, Author of Summer of Love

If you've ever devoured a book because the main character's struggle with alcohol felt a little too familiar, this episode is for you. Lindsay sits down with USA Today bestselling author Kerri Maher, the writer behind The Paris Bookseller, The Girl in White Gloves, and The Kennedy Debutante to talk about her brand-new novel, Summer of Love. The book weaves together two timelines: an older sister running the family vineyard in 1967 California, and her daughter quietly struggling with her drinking decades later, all while chasing the identity of an anonymous author whose books seem to know her family's secrets a little too well. Kerri is also four and a half years alcohol-free, and in this conversation she opens up about why she finally went public with her own sobriety, why fiction about drinking matters just as much as memoir, and how storytelling — hers and other women's becomes a quiet act of service for anyone still stuck in silence. You'll discover: Why Kerri built a novel around alcohol without writing a memoir and why fiction can reach people memoir can't How her own sobriety journey shaped Winnie, Miranda, and Dawn without any one of them being "her" Why moderation was harder for Kerri to sustain than quitting altogether How alcohol marketing quietly wrote itself into our idea of "the good life," and why that's so hard to unwind What it's actually like to talk to your kids about being a sober parent and why Kerri sees it as the safest thing she can be for them Why "no word is wasted," even the five unpublished novels sitting in her attic Simple, low-pressure ways to normalize an alcohol-free life, even when your identity or your family's business is tied to alcohol If you've ever wished more of the books and shows you loved actually got drinking right, this conversation is a reminder of how powerful it is when they finally do. About Kerri Maher Kerri Maher is the USA Today bestselling author of The Paris Bookseller, The Girl in White Gloves, and The Kennedy Debutante. Writing as Kerri Majors, she is also the author of This Is Not a Writing Manual: Notes for the Young Writer in the Real World. She holds an MFA from Columbia University and lives with her daughter and dog in a leafy suburb west of Boston, Massachusetts. Her new novel, Summer of Love, releases July 7. Find Kerri Instagram: @kerrimaherwriter Substack: Sandcastles with Kerri Maher and The Well-Resourced Parent (search "Kerri Maher" on Substack) Get the Book 📖 Summer of Love by Kerri Maher Support the show Here's how you can stay connected: 🗓️ Schedule a 30-minute Discovery Call 👩‍💻 Sign-up for Feel Good AF Coaching 📱Follow along on Instagram 📰 Subscribe to the Feel Good AF newsletter And remember, Lindsay is a sober coach, not a health professional. If you are chemically dependent on alcohol (or think you might be), consult your doctor on the steps you need to take to safely detox. Intro/Outro Music Credit: Cozy Lofi Beat - Split memmories by Idoberg Sober curious women. Quit drinking without AA, How to quit drinking for High Achieving women.