“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...”

“This is the most extraordinary memoir I have ever read. Kristina and her mother Constance have written a gritty, wrenching, starkly honest...”

“...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...”

“The Lost Years provides readers a powerful and rigorously honest look into a families struggle against the ruthless adversary of addiction...”

Book Overview

kristi-and-connie

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. Adding a heart-wrenching counterpart to the story, Kristina's mother, Constance, 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 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 a professional interventionist since 1998, she specializes in helping addicted adolescents and young adults, endeavoring to treat the whole family system not just the one 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 that so much good can come from hardship and adversity.

ISBN: 0-9777618-1-9/978-0-9777618-1-4 $15.95 / 6x9 paperback 288 pages