Chancers
Addiction, Prison, Recovery, Love: One Couple's Memoir
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Chancers
Narrated by:
Susan Stellin, Graham MacIndoe
Buy Now for £12.99
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Narrated by:
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Susan Stellin
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Graham MacIndoe
About this listen
Books for a Better Life Award Finalist • LitHub Best Book of the Month
When Susan Stellin asked Graham MacIndoe to shoot her author photo for an upcoming travel book, she barely knew him except for a few weekends with mutual friends at a summer house in Montauk. He was a gregarious, divorced Scotsman who had recently gotten sober; she was an independent New Yorker who decided to take a chance on a rough-around-the-edges guy. But their relationship was soon tested when Susan discovered that Graham still had a drug habit he was hiding.
From their harrowing portrayal of the ravages of addiction to the stunning chain of events that led to Graham’s arrest and imprisonment at Rikers Island, Chancers unfolds in alternating chapters that offer two perspectives on a relationship that ultimately endures against long odds. Susan follows Graham down the rabbit hole of the American criminal justice system, determined to keep him from becoming another casualty of the war on drugs. Graham gives a stark, riveting description of his slide from brownstone Brooklyn to a prison cell, his gut-wrenching efforts to get clean, and his fight to avoid getting exiled far away from his son and the life he built over twenty years.
Beautifully written, brutally honest, yet filled with suspense and hope, Chancers will resonate with anyone who has been touched by the heartache of addiction, the nightmare of incarceration, or the tough choice of leaving or staying with someone who is struggling on the road to recovery. By sharing their story, Susan and Graham show the value of talking about topics many of us are too scared to address.
Praise for Chancers
“Stellin and MacIndoe, in entries sometimes akin to fighters in the ring, tell the story of their lives as MacIndoe rides a roller-coaster life of drug addiction and prison. . . . [Chancers] grabs in a voyeuristic way and propels page-turning to find out what happens next in a saga no soap opera could create.”—The Buffalo News
“Emotionally resonant and evenly structured, their tandem chronicle resists overly romanticizing their bittersweet interactions to focus on the dedication and devotion necessary to make their already-complicated relationship survive the fallout of critical hardships. An emotionally complex and intensely personal binary memoir of addiction and sustainable love.”—Kirkus Reviews
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Critic reviews
Praise for Chancers
“Stellin and MacIndoe, in entries sometimes akin to fighters in the ring, tell the story of their lives as MacIndoe rides a roller-coaster life of drug addiction and prison. . . . It is a remarkable nine-year parallel journey that forced them to bare their innermost thoughts and feelings, forced them to distance themselves and, finally, forced them to recognize that a life, even in the depths of despair, merits saving. . . . [Chancers] grabs in a voyeuristic way and propels page-turning to find out what happens next in a saga no soap opera could create.”—The Buffalo News
“Emotionally resonant and evenly structured, their tandem chronicle resists overly romanticizing their bittersweet interactions to focus on the dedication and devotion necessary to make their already-complicated relationship survive the fallout of critical hardships. An emotionally complex and intensely personal binary memoir of addiction and sustainable love.”—Kirkus Reviews
“Stellin and MacIndoe, in entries sometimes akin to fighters in the ring, tell the story of their lives as MacIndoe rides a roller-coaster life of drug addiction and prison. . . . It is a remarkable nine-year parallel journey that forced them to bare their innermost thoughts and feelings, forced them to distance themselves and, finally, forced them to recognize that a life, even in the depths of despair, merits saving. . . . [Chancers] grabs in a voyeuristic way and propels page-turning to find out what happens next in a saga no soap opera could create.”—The Buffalo News
“Emotionally resonant and evenly structured, their tandem chronicle resists overly romanticizing their bittersweet interactions to focus on the dedication and devotion necessary to make their already-complicated relationship survive the fallout of critical hardships. An emotionally complex and intensely personal binary memoir of addiction and sustainable love.”—Kirkus Reviews
Review
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What did you like most about Chancers?
A very gripping true story - I am so naive about drugs it has helped me understand what it must be like for addicts and their loved ones to encounter. Susan's strength and encouragement is remarkable and Graham I'm glad your back to the caring better person you were before all of this. Keep up the good work and continue the book letting us know about the good times.Addiction again I couldn't put the book down!
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Towards the end of the book Stellin raises a crucial question. Do we as a society really believe in rehabilitation? I'd never before given the matter any thought. Having finished Chancers, I would have to admit no, I don't think we do. MacIndoe's account of his time in prison, most notably in immigration detention after serving time at Riley's for a drug possession misdemeanour, is an eye-opener. Those inmates lucky enough to be released are dumped at the bus station without money, phone or even a jacket and expected to get back on their feet.
At times, Stellin does emerge as a saintly figure but she's wise to that and up for the takedown with the wry humour that I strongly suspect to be the spark that keeps them together despite everything.
"It's easy to say I love you, it's showing it that's hard," writes Stellin. I think it's fair to say by the end of the book they have both passed that particular life lesson with flying colours.
Exceptional memoir
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A story of courage, hope and recovery
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you wont be able to press stop. so well written
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