In Finding Tess, Beth Macy once again demonstrates her profound ability to explore the depths of America’s opioid crisis, bringing empathy and journalistic rigor to a heartbreaking narrative. In this audio documentary, Macy revisits the life of Tess Henry, a young mother from Virginia whose opioid use disorder ended in tragedy when she was found murdered in Las Vegas. Tess’s story, initially touched on in Macy’s Dopesick, becomes the central focus here, unraveling in gut-wrenching detail.
Macy doesn’t simply chronicle Tess’s struggles with substance use but goes a step further, performing what she calls a “psychosocial autopsy” of sorts, tracing the systems that failed her. As Tess’s journey unravels, Macy probes into the failings of the healthcare system, rehabilitation programs, and the wider societal neglect that compounded her substance use disorder. The story is not Tess’s alone—it’s emblematic of the many thousands of Americans living with opioid dependency. Macy’s sensitive portrayal reminds us that this epidemic is not just a health crisis but a moral failure on the part of America’s institutions.
What makes Finding Tess compelling is Macy’s ability to blend investigative reporting with empathy for the human toll of the opioid crisis. The audio format lends an intimate feel to the documentary, bringing the voices of those closest to Tess, including her mother, Patricia, and recovery specialists, into stark relief. Their testimonies are raw and, at times, uncomfortable, creating an atmosphere of urgency and despair but also one of necessary reflection.
Unlike her broader work in Dopesick, which examines the opioid epidemic from a policy and systemic perspective, Finding Tess hones in on the personal, making the crisis hit close to home. Through Tess’s life and death, Macy interrogates the forces that conspired against her recovery while also shedding light on the courage and resilience of those, like Patricia, who refuse to let her memory fade.
In classic Beth Macy style, Finding Tess is a blend of narrative, journalism, and advocacy, encouraging listeners to question how an affluent country like the United States could allow so many to fall through the cracks. The result is a searing examination of substance use disorders, loss, and the need for systemic reform in a society that often stigmatizes the very people it has failed to protect. Macy’s work is a tribute to Tess Henry’s life and a call to action for a country grappling with an ever-worsening public health disaster. I give Finding Tess 4 out of 5 Sobees.
The Sobees #QUITLIT Score: 4 out of 5
Interview with Beth Macy
THE MINDFUL BINGE: Dopesick – A (Mostly) True Story of the Start of the Opioid Addiction Crisis in the United States
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