A Clean Mess

A Memoir of Sobriety After a Lifetime of Being Numb

By: Tiffany Jenkins

Narrated by: Tiffany Jenkins

The bestselling author of High Achiever chronicles life after addiction—the raw, the dark, and the hilarious—from setting out with nothing but a backpack to discovering her marriage was built on a shakier foundation than she’d ever imagined to staying sober when life fell apart.

“Tiffany Jenkins illustrates that recovery is not just about sobriety, but about learning to live and feel again. Her compelling story is a testament to the power of resilience, humor, and hope.”—Sarah Levy, author of Drinking Games

A Clean Mess opens with the moment that changed everything. Tiffany is about to go on stage when she receives an odd message from her husband: “Hey Babe, some of the guys here are making some stupid decisions. Not me. But I just wanted to let you know in case you heard it from some of the other wives.” By the end of the night, Tiffany knew her life would never be the same.

This wasn’t the first time she had to start over. After the opioid addiction and jail sentence that she chronicled in her bestselling memoir, High Achiever, Tiffany was ready for a fresh start. A chance to try life again, this time without drugs coursing through her veins. In A Clean Mess, she takes us back to those early days of recovery, and the whirlwind that she entered the moment she was out of prison. In just two years, she went from inmate to married and sober mom of three.

Told with humor and honesty, A Clean Mess is Tiffany Jenkins’s story of how she learned to live and feel for the first time without numbing herself with drugs—and how she discovered inner reserves of strength she didn’t know she had. From her tentative first days of sobriety, to seeing two pink lines on a pregnancy test weeks later, to navigating anxiety, a new marriage, and motherhood at the same time, to surviving betrayal and divorce, Jenkins shows how she got through it all when her crutches and Band-Aids were taken away from her. An inspiring memoir that comes across like fiction, A Clean Mess is a book that will buoy anyone seeking a life raft in hard times.

©2025 Tiffany Jenkins (P)2025 Random House Audio

Critic reviews

“In this deeply personal and unflinchingly honest memoir, Tiffany Jenkins illustrates that recovery is not just about sobriety, but about learning to live and feel again. Her compelling story is a testament to the power of resilience, humor, and hope.”—Sarah Levy, author of Drinking Games

“A Clean Mess is the book we have all been waiting for. Once again, Tiffany has taken us inside her life in recovery using humor, humility, and love as her compass. Tiffany’s second memoir gives readers a raw and honest look into relationships as a recovering addict. She’s relatable and endearing while living through some of the most unimaginable circumstances. I laughed. I cried. And then I called my parents.”—Lyssa Chapman, author of Walking on Eggshells

“When I read A Clean Mess, I found myself so deeply relating to Tiffany’s pain that it felt as though I’d crawled right into her body to live through it all over again. She holds nothing back and bares her soul with wit, honesty, and raw grit: things that make for both an excellent human and an excellent read. From one woman who has walked through fire to another: Read this! It’ll remind you that while we’re all kinda f***ed up, none of us are alone.”—Jodie Sweetin, author of unSweetined: A Memoir