The third of five children in the McGovern family, Terry was born to a double legacy of potential problems. On her mother’s side, several family members including Terry’s mother suffered from clinical depression; on McGovern’s side, his brother battled alcoholism. Terry’s younger brother is a recovering alcoholic, and McGovern says other family members have only narrowly escaped. As a teenager, Terry drank and took drugs, and although she managed to graduate from college, her only real career was fighting her addiction. During an eight-year stretch of sobriety, she had two daughters, but when her relationsbip with their father ended, she relapsed. Friends uniformly described her as warm and charismatic. McGovern sketches his political career, but his reflections on his own life really just provide a background to the story of Terry’s descent. Many times, he and his wife pulled her back from disaster and helped her into recovery programs; ultimately, tehy couldn’t save her. McGoverns abiding love for his daughter, and his anguish at the thought of failing her, scorch these pages.
