Ever since the Meadows family moved to New York from Alabama, something has been different. Martin would come home every night to the sight of his wife tippling around the house. Martin's wife, Emily had become an alcoholic. It was bad enough that Martin had to hire a house keeper to clean the house and look after their two children, Andy and Marianne. One night Emily had dropped Marianne on the corner of the table. It was not her intension, but she was just not coordinated enough to handle the child. There are many reasons why people start drinking, but Emily's reason was much harder to understand.

Except for infants born to addicted mothers, people are not born addicted to anything. Many people drink and try different drugs. And most people experience some kind of high. But not everybody becomes addicted. Why? And how does it affect the...