The Lois Wilson Story - When Love is Not Enough: the Authorized Biography of the Cofounder of Al-Anon (Hardcover)

A long-awaited look at the unsung story of Lois Wilson, wife of the famously anonymous Bill W.

Acclaimed author and screenwriter William G. Borchert does a masterful job in revealing the life and times of this spirited and determined woman, exploring the tender emotional territory beyond Lois’ s role in the formation of AA and the subsequent creation of Al-Anon. From her privileged childhood in turn-of-the-century New York City, to her unexpected but exhilarating courtship with the dashing Bill Wilson, to her socialite status as a " Wall Street Wife" in the Roaring Twenties, to the couple’ s audacious cross-country motorcycle excursions in the 1930s, Lois was every bit the adventure-seeker her legendary husband was. But nothing could have prepared her for the chaos, pain, and loss caused by her beloved Bill’ s seventeen-year descent into the depths of alcoholism. In the end, however, her husband’ s addiction proved not to be the tragic undoing of this brilliant, promising couple, but rather the beginning of one of the twentieth century’ s most important social movements.

Features a 16-page section of black-and-white archival photographs.