Shigeko Ito

“Shigeko Ito’s The Pond Beyond the Forest is a page-turning and candid memoir that chronicles the experience of parenting a teen while dealing with the fallout from one’s own childhood trauma. In turns hilarious and poignant, this memoir is so real. Many will see themselves in this story and no longer feel alone.”

“An intimate memoir filled with breathtaking detail. Complicated by her Japanese upbringing that demands obedience and self-sacrifice, Ito confronts her demons while striving to build a family of her own in the United States. A fascinating read that will resonate with anyone who has experienced unresolved childhood trauma.”

“Shigeko Ito tells a moving story of breaking the cycle and healing intergenerational trauma, offering hope to others that happiness and peace can be found in simply being who you are and living in the present moment.”

“At the center of this remarkable memoir is a heartfelt desire of a mother to raise her child with love, to preserve her marriage, and, for these things to happen, to escape the grip that anxiety has on her. She has secret weapons: empathy, objectivity, persistence, a sense of humor, and a love for animals. We see them all. Ito shares equally stories of her mistakes and successes with the same openness and warmth. This balance teaches us something worth learning.”