Mollie Bach’s “Paradise Lost” is a riveting fictional tale about alcohol addiction
Paradise Lost by Mollie Bach is set in London and Southern France at the end of the 20th century. It revolves around the story of two central characters, Judith and Annabel.
Judith is a young artist who meets and falls in love with Claude, who is doing his doctorate on the painter Vincent Van Gogh and the causes of his mental disintegration. Judith’s mother is an alcoholic. Her father is a property developer. Annabel is a financial advisor to the NHS. Her job is deficit reduction within the NHS.
These two diverse characters are drawn into a complex relationship, which is not of their making, and for much of the story they are unaware of the threads that bind them. These threads slowly tighten and strengthen until they are inexorably bound together.
The book is Mollie’s way of addressing the damages of alcohol addiction on families. Both gripping and poignant, the book sheds light on the struggles facing family members and the despair they would feel over loved ones addicted to alcohol.
