Born in Europe, Reva’s childhood was an unhappy one.  Depression set in so badly she tried taking her own life at age thirteen by swallowing a hundred aspirins.  She survived her suicide attempt, but upon waking from a deep sleep she learned nobody in Reva’s family noticed she had tried to kill herself.  Reva didn’t start drinking until she was 21, while away at college in New York City.  Instead of class, she was at any open bar she could find.  Booze helped quell Reva’s anxiety.  When Reva would later achieve her sobriety, her newfound clarity would allow to her realize her mother, too, was an alcoholic.