Female alcoholism - a taboo illness "I managed to drink up to two bottles of vodka a day, plus bottles of wine and all the alcohol I could find," says Virginie, 40, who drowned in alcohol for 5 years. She lost her job, custody of her child and her self-esteem. Alcohol-free for a year, she recounts her descent into hell in a book "Drowned in Alcohol" ("Noyée dans l’alcool"), published last October. Alcohol consumption among women doubled between 2010 and 2014 in France but remains "taboo", according to an addiction expert. \\n IMAGES AND SOUNDBITES