Nineteen: A Daughter's Memoir of Reckoning and Recovery -- Leslie Johansen Nack, Paperback

For fans of Stephanie Thornton-Plymale's American Daughter and Cea Sunrise Person's North of Normal comes Leslie Johansen Nack's emotional follow-up memoir about her battle with addiction following a traumatic childhood--and her inspiring journey toward healing and happiness.

In the mid-1970s, Leslie Nack's family returned from sailing to French Polynesia and began the integration process into American life again, which included being tossed back and forth between an alcoholic, mentally ill mother and an abusive, overbearing father.

To find love and acceptance, Leslie chases a myth that throws her into the path of nefarious older men, where she eventually falls into drug and alcohol addiction. Her father dies in his plane in the jungles of Mexico when Leslie is nineteen, but his abuse lingers in her psyche. She spirals, her only solace her next fix--until, somehow, she finds the grace, despite her abjectly dysfunctional family background, to believe in her worth. This newfound self-love changes everything for her, and finally she is able to find her way to sobriety and recovery.

Raw and intense but ultimately hopeful, this sequel to the popular memoir Fourteen tells the rest of Nack's turbulent--and incredible--story.

Author: Leslie Johansen Nack
Publisher: She Writes Press
Published: 10/14/2025
Pages: 368
Binding Type: Paperback
ISBN: 9781647429966

Review Citation(s):
Kirkus Reviews 08/15/2025
PW Booklife Reviews 06/30/2025

About the Author
Leslie Johansen Nack is the author of two award-winning books: her debut memoir, Fourteen, and her historical novel, The Blue Butterfly. Her forthcoming sequel, Nineteen: A Daughter's Memoir of Reckoning and Recovery, concludes her raw and deeply personal story that chronicles her path to sobriety and a renewed sense of hope. Nack graduated from UCLA with a degree in English literature, and she overcame past traumas to raise two children in a healthy, loving home. She is a member of The Authors' Guild, The Historical Novel Society, and the Pacific Northwest Writers Association. She lives outside Seattle with her husband of thirty-five years. You can find more about Leslie and her work at www.lesliejohansennack.com.