" 'But the authorities said she was quite normal, just an alcoholic.' she recalls today."
Doesn't anyone see the paradox of this statement? In other words, the authorities said she was a "normal alcoholic." While it might be true for a person to be a normal alcoholic, it's not true that an active alcoholic is normal.
I've heard that addiction/alcoholism is more understood today than it ever has been...yep...I've heard that a lot, I just haven't seen it.