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

Customer Reviews

Must read for anyone in the counseling/addictions field!

2008-07-14
The Lost Years is a must read for anyone in the counseling/addictions field! I was assigned to read this book for a Substance Abuse course and I was a little bit apprehensive to read another book about addictions, but this was not just another book; it was different. The Lost Years gives remarkable insight into the mind/heart/soul/motivations of a young woman addicted to alcohol and cocaine and also the mother's side of the story. I picked up this book in the morning and by the end of the afternoon, I had finished it. I truly could not put it down. A gripping story and a great read for anyone, but a MUST READ for professionals in the field. I think that I will be a better counselor and a better person for having read Kristina and her mother's story. Thank you so much for this book!

Two paths to recoery

2008-07-08
I have read many books on the subject of addiction from both the addicts experience and the parent. This book is the first book that spoke to the path of recovery for both parties interwoven sequentially where you could see the process to recovery for both parties and how they are really the same.

Great Read!

2008-07-04
This book is wonderful! It details the decent into addiction as well as the battle out and it does so from two perspectives-- mother and daughter. I highly recommend this book. It is very well written and informative.

overall good book

2008-05-08
This was a really good book. It was extremely hard to put down. The only complaint I have about the book is that the ending was a little to much like a fairy tale, almost to the point that it wasn't entirely believable. Happy endings are nice, but no one has a perfect life no matter what you want people to believe.

A Million TRUTHFUL Pieces

2008-05-05
This book is so clearly one whose time has come. Waiting for a decade to pass before writing the story down allowed the events to be processed and fully digested. Feelings on all sides were clearly no longer raw, hostility had passed, and growth had occured which gave way for honesty and truth to shine through on every page.

This book gives people hope that change - in many forms - is real, attainable, and sustainable.

Read it! You will be glad you did.

Reading this story healed me

2008-04-30
A child caught in the horror of alcohol and drug addition. 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 thirteen. 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 twenty-one. 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.

This is a must-read to wade through the stories of denial

2008-04-27
This book brings forth the powerful message of denial...all family member who live in a fantasy world denying the inner voice that speaks of the sadness, anger, disconnect that we ignore because we are wanting life to be perfect. We need to get to hear more stories of the pain and agony the life of the addict and their family so we can stop the denial and begin the healing. This was a very hard book to read, and so worth every challenging moment.

An emotional MUST-READ!

2008-04-25
I just finished this book and think that every teenage girl and woman should read this. Kristina and Constance's candor and self revealing story is unbelievably inspirational. Every family dealing with addiction should read this, but I think it is an important read for any home with a teenage home (siblings, parents, etc). This is a moving, at times, heart-breaking story. You will laugh, cry and hurt with both Constance and Kristina. I am so moved by this story! A MUST READ!

The Lost Years

2008-04-03
Thank God for this book. If you are a mother struggling with a teen-age daughter's addictions, this is the book for you. The book was written from the heart by a brillant young woman who pulled herself out of the "living hell" of drug and alcohol addiction and a brave mother who realized that the only way her child would recover was if she allowed her to do it on her own. It is a blessing and a miracle they both survived the ordeal to write the book. I am sure you will be inspired by Kristina's and Constance's compelling story. It offers great insight and hope for all of us.

Mary H-B
Texas
April 2008

Excellent read.

2008-03-21
This is a great book. It reads more like a story, but has a lot of good information in it. The daughter especially writes well. Her ability to describe her experiences is extremely well done. You feel her. The mom also is a good writer. The only thing I think she could have done better is explain how she went from one extreme to the other with her daughter. I think for the average mother out there they might find her approach rather harsh. I agree with her approach, but think maybe a little more details as to how she became so firm would be helpful for some mothers. But, overall I really liked this book and would highly recommend it. I think it is a very hopeful book, but not for a weak stomach because it is very graphic as to what a drug addict on the streets can and does go through. It is heart wrenching, but very real. Great job to both authors.