“The Child Behind the Bushes” by Kyoung Mi Choi

It begins when Umma shares family secrets during their mother-daughter trip to Jeju Island, a sparkling coastal enclave just off the Korean mainland. Her mother’s revelations — at first about Choi’s maternal grandmother — open a window onto a past that Choi could never have imagined. Her grandmother’s life swung wildly between poverty and privilege, Japanese colonization and the Korean War, and an impressive legal victory that stunningly ended in business bankruptcy. The details helped Choi understand her grandmother’s baffling silence and revealed a new side to her grandmother — that of a courageous, strong, and hopeful young woman coping in the only way she knew how.

But the secrets don’t end there. Soon, Choi and her mother are shocked by what they learn about each other. Opening up little by little, they ultimately replace feelings of disconnection and loneliness with deeper love and a surprising new joy. Newfound forgiveness and liberation also transform their relationships with significant others.

Now a professor at an American university who teaches counseling to master’s students, Choi was startled to find her professional research colliding uncannily with her own family’s story, offering herself and her mother a gentle path out of intergenerational trauma. Their experience is an invitation to millions worldwide who could similarly find freedom from unconsciously bequeathed trauma.

From South Korea, married to a woman from the Netherlands while living and working in the United States, the story spans three generations and three continents. As a professor of counselor education, Choi grounds the healing process in her professional experience. This book captures the beauty and challenges of intergenerational and intercultural relationships.