Release Date: October 7, 2025
About The Book:
At age twenty-two, Shigeko Ito immigrated to America to escape Japan’s rigid society and a neglectful childhood home that landed her in a mental hospital at seventeen. She thrived in her new, healthier environment and thought her traumatic past was all behind her.
Until it wasn’t.
Motherhood, she realized, was far more challenging than she could have ever imagined. But it was her son’s high school years that proved to be particularly daunting, and that was when her past reemerged—in the form of intense flashbacks to her childhood trauma and tumultuous teenage years. With the stream of daily stresses compounded by menopausal irritability, Shigeko often found herself regressing into a bunker-like mentality with childish coping mechanisms, a pattern that threatened to undo her most prized achievement: her happy family.
About The Author:
Shigeko Ito grew up in Japan and immigrated to the United States in her twenties to pursue higher education. She studied early childhood development and education, earning a PhD in Education from Stanford University. Drawing on cross-cultural experiences and academic expertise, she explores themes of trauma, resilience, and healing, with a particular focus on childhood emotional neglect. Her writing has appeared on the Complex Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (CPTSD) Foundation blog and the Anxiety and Depression Association of America (ADAA) website. She worked for many years at a Montessori preschool and is an avid animal lover, especially of dogs, who enjoys birding, gardening, and raising mason bees. She lives in Seattle, Washington, with her husband of thirty years. Website: www.shigekoito.com
Social Media:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/shigekochakoito
Facebook: facebook.com/shigekoitomemoir
Book Blurbs:
“…a soul-searching memoir about the lasting effects of childhood emotional neglect….A compelling, honest,and ultimately victorious memoir.”—KIRKUS REVIEWS
“…carries the reader along the universal human journey of seeking an authentic sense of self, free from the unconscious, intrusive, and invalidating beliefs embedded during childhood….”—Boadie Dunlop, MD, professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Emory University School of Medicine
“…page-turning and candid … .In turns hilarious and poignant, this memoir is so real. Many will see themselves in this story and no longer feel alone.”—Theo Pauline Nestor, author of Writing Is My Drin
Bloggers On Tour:
May 3rd- Books and Coffee MX https://instagram.com/booksandcoffeemx
May 3rd – Plains Reading https://instagram.com/plains_reading
May 21st- Reading Is My Remedy https://instagram.com/reading_is_my_remedy
May 22nd- Book Princess of Cali https://www.instagram.com/bookprincessofcali
May 27th- CMT Loves Wine and Books https://instagram.com/cmtloveswineandbooks
May 30th- Books Love And Understanding https://instagram.com/booksloveandunderstanding
May 31st – Subakka Bookstuff https://instagram.com/subakka.bookstuff
June 1st – Nurse Bookie https://instagram.com/nurse_bookie
June 3rd- Tammy Reads https://instagram.com/tammyreads62
June 4th- Marilyn Goncalves https://instagram.com/marilynjgon
June 9th- Rozier Reads and Wine https://instagram.com/rozierreadsandwine
June 11th- Sarahs Bookish Reviews https://instagram.com/sarahs.bookish.reviews
June 12th – Nature Books and Coffee https://instagram.com/nature.books.and.coffee
June 15th- Nissa The Bookworm https://instagram.com/nissa_the.bookworm
June 19th – One More Exclamation https://instagram.com/onemoreexclamation
June 20th- Miss W Book Reviews https://instagram.com/misswbookreviews
June 21st- Crafty Jenn Reads https://instagram.com/crafty.jenn.reads
June 24th – Red Corset Reads https://www.instagram.com/redcorset_reads
June 30th- Coffee Break Book Reviews https://instagram.com/coffee.break.book.reviews
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