Snapshots from the Irish Riviera

"Snapshots from the Irish Riviera" is one woman's love letter to her younger siblings, illustrating that the children of alcoholic families are forced to be adults, so they are often left to reclaim their childhoods later in life.

Suzanne Kerzner's story begins, when she and her ma move to the Canarsie Quonset huts in 1949, a tract of military-style temporary housing where missing fathers are more the rule than the exception. But then, disappearing men are a problem for her family, wherever they live.

Fatherless until she's eight, Suzanne has Uncle Mike instead, a confirmed Irish bachelor and a drinker who she's charged with keeping an eye on. After her father's return, the birth of her siblings puts her in charge again, as her parents' self-destructive drinking habits bring increasingly devastating instability and loss.

But through it all, Suzanne's resilience shines brightly as she answers life's blows with a giving heart. Through courage, imagination, and healing forgiveness, she creates her own life and moves forward to become a drug and alcohol treatment professional.

Her inspiring story serves as a guidebook to surviving life's greatest difficulties. It shows that, no matter our circumstances, each of us has the capacity to find joy and love.