Soon, it will be a year since I last had an alcoholic drink. Getting sober has much to recommend it: a clear head; no hangovers; sparkling eyes; renewed energy; the realisation that nobody has ever woken up in the morning and thought: “Oooh, I wish I’d had some booze last night…”

But it is not all good news. Climbing onto the wagon has had some unforeseen consequences. For example, when something bad happens in your life, there is no way of pretending it hasn’t happened by drowning yourself in drink. You just have to sit there with the bad thing, rubbing up against it, getting to know it, when really you would rather be in the pub with your friends pretending that the bad thing does not exist….