W. Hodding Carter

Reeling from her husband’s request to divorce after 25 years of marriage and two kids, Florence Williams was experiencing debilitating grief. An accomplished reporter, she decided to explore the science of heartache to see if she could find a cure. In this excerpt from her new book, ‘Heartbreak: A Personal and Scientific Journey,’ she heads out for a 120-mile solo paddle on Utah’s Green River, with a too heavy portable toilet and a shattered heart.

Clearly, I am an addict. Not a big surprise, considering that I was a toddler the first time I got drunk. Apparently, I’d found some leftover old-fashioneds at the end of one of my parents’ parties in Greenville, Mississippi, in the 1960s. I downed them and proceeded to do handstands and somersaults. This was always told as a funny story. I was in high school before I really started drinking, and I didn’t do it often, because I was a competitive swimmer.

My dad is struggling with cancer in North Carolina, and COVID-19 cruelly cut him off from his family. But in Maine, where I live, the pandemic has forced 'Brady Bunch' togetherness that's been challenging, strangely fun, and full of lessons worth carrying forward. My father and I were sitting at a small indoor table, eating roasted Cornish game hens while we looked out at well-kept grounds below us.