The Lost Years Kristina Wandzilak & Constance Curry
A child caught in the depravity of alcohol and drug addiction. A mother helplessly standing by unable to save her. The Lost Years is the real life story of just such a mother and child, each giving their first-hand accounts of the years lost to addiction and despair.
Kristina, the second of four children, tells how she turns to alcohol for comfort when she is 13. She gives a brutally honest description of her descent into addiction, prostitution, burglary and violent rape until her near death on the floor of a homeless shelter completely alone at the age of 21.
6 x 9 paperback 288 pages ISBN: 0-9777618-1-9/978-0-9777618-1-4 $15.95
Adding a heart-wrenching counterpart to the story, Kristina's mother, Connie, tells of her powerlessness to help her addicted daughter, the break-up of her unhappy marriage and how she comes to terms with her own co-dependency. She is also faced with the worst choice a mother has to make, to close the door on Kristina, sending her onto the streets in order to save herself and protect her other children.
Then follows the remarkable story of Kristina's recovery as she lives through rehab, her mother's "tough love" and the years of acclimating herself to living a normal life. Ultimately, she reclaims herself, her place in her family and a new and loving relationship with her mother. Both mother and daughter have since become a force for good in this world.
An internationally recognized expert in addiction, intervention and recovery, Kristina has helped hundreds of families and has been invited to speak on the subject around the world. As an interventionist, she specializes in helping addicted youth, endeavoring to treat the family as a whole not just the addicted family member. Kristina has now become a "tour de force" (as one family labeled her) in the treatment field. Connie is a speaker on the subject of addiction and a fund raiser for those in need of therapy.
The Lost Years is a beautifully written memoir of survival and transformation that reminds us all that so much good can come from so much that is bad.
"The Lost Years is one of the most important books on family addiction and recovery that I have come across in years. It allows the readers a rare, simultaneous look into the hearts and minds of both the co-dependent and the addict. Kristina and her mother take us through the suffering, turmoil and destruction of addiction right on through to forgiveness, reconciliation and redemption. This book is invaluable to families, and I am proud to recommend The Lost Years."
"This is the most important book I have read this year. I couldn't put it down."
"This book touches on both sides of addiction ... the side of the addict and that of the enabler. We found the openness and insight very touching and heartwarming. Addiction goes beyond description. You are absolutely helpless. We know, we have been there. The only "cure" is honesty, as this book beautifully demonstrates. Until one is absolutely honest with oneself there is no hope for either the addict or the enabler."
"This is the most extraordinary memoir I have ever read. Kristina and her mother Constance have written a gritty, wrenching, starkly honest and emotionally moving account of addiction and recovery. It is a deeply inspirational story of pain, loss, acceptance and survival. This daughter-mother writing is no-frills, yet beautiful and utterly compelling. The pain of love and loss, fear and letting go is raw. You quickly grow to love these two and to learn what facing yourself at the core really means. The Lost Years is a gift of deep honesty - a handbook for showing up to find yourself and to live responsibly."
"This book, about Kristina and her mother's journey, is one of the best books I have read about drug and alcohol addiction and the effects on family. It sends the right message about not giving up on your child and establishes guidelines for tough love and, for the recovering person, perseverance. The Lost Years is a beautiful story full of redemption and forgiveness. It is tough, honest and gritty. This is a powerful and amazing book. I could not put it down."
Back to Top