The Lost Years: Surviving a Mother and Daughter's Worst Nightmare

This book is well written, easy to read and almost impossible to put down. The subject matter relates to almost all of us. Who among us has not had such an experience or know someone who has, or is going through a similiar situation? I have a better understanding about how this happens and have been given hope that it does not always end in a negative manner.

A must-read for every parent Of all the addiction memoirs that I have read in the last two years this is one that goes straight to the heart of the matter. Genuine, honest, accessible and heart-breaking are just a few of the words that I would use to describe this powerful book. Written as a joint account of the lives of a mother and daughter during the troubled times of the daughter's addiction and recovery, it is the mother's side of the story that turns out to be the more poignant since she had it all, then lost it, and ultimately had to find her own way out of the mess that her life was in. She took courageous steps to protect her other children from the damage that her addicted daughter could inflict on her family, the most devastating of which was, time and again, to turn the addict away from her door until her daughter learned she had no choice but to be rehabilitated. Very few loving parents can do this and then command the compassion to restore a beautiful relationship with such a prodigal child. It must be rare too that an addict who has been so near to death as she had been from the serious diseases of alcohol and drug addiction should later become so unselfishly involved in helping others suffering. To live with the daughter, as one does in the later pages of this book, whilst she struggles through the recovery process and begins the struggle to re-connect with her family is a testament to the hope that exists and lives within all of us. It is the hope born of a belief that we can change our lives from the worst to the very best and it proves once again that where there is love there is life and where there is life there is always hope.

This is the book I have been waiting for! This is the Owner's Manual for anyone affected by this family disease. So often family members want someone else to change! Bravo Constance! You sought help, put the focus on yourself, set clear boundaries and clear consequences and your family got well. This book is a gift to all parents in a BIG way. Bravo Kristina! You followed your treatment recommendations and got well too. Your book is now mandatory reading for all the teens and all the parents in my teen drug treatment program as well as my graduate students in Counseling Psychology. I predict very big changes as a result of this book. Thank you! Larry Fritzlan, LMFT - Director, Adolescent Recovery Services.

Each of the women bare their hearts in this wrenching story of a mother and daughter's journey to the depths of despair and back. I know the truth of this startlingly vivid memoir because my daughter and I went through a similar journey. We both read the book and felt it resonanted deeply for us. Kristina and Constance recount their perceptions and feelings about the same events in alternating chapters. The insight that this gives a reader provides a remarkable and very moving experience. I cannot recommend this book enough to anyone who has a family member who has been sucked down the drain of self-loathing and drugs. This book provides a window into a world of family dysfunction and addiction and will help people to understand how hope is possible and how healing and redemption can take place in the face of all odds. Kristina and Constance's triumph is incrediblly inspiring!

Riveting! This blow-by-blow memoir is so vivid, so wrenching, that you will live the nightmare along with drug and alcohol addict Kristina and her mother. For those with little or no experience in this netherworld, the most intriguing aspect of the book is getting inside these women's heads. Why does someone start drinking at the age of 13? How can a smart, talented kid fall so low so fast? What does a parent do when a kid doesn't want to help herself? One twist of fate at any of dozens of points, and Katrina's life might have gone differently: she might have snapped out of it, or she might have ended up dead. Even though you know she recovered before you start reading, you can't help being drawn into this page turner. Luckily, this horror story has a happy and inspiring ending. Even so, it's hard to imagine how any one person, let alone two, could experience that much pain and abuse and not simply die.