5,000 Miles

Part comeback story, part cautionary tale, 5,000 Miles: You Can't Outrun Shame traces the author's journey back to herself. Surrounded by the compelling mystery and lush beauty of Hawaii and punctuated at times in the self-deprecating style of a 50-something ChinaRican woman looking in the rear-view mirror, this debut memoir opens with a moment of reckoning. Anxiety and insomnia have landed the accomplished lawyer, wife, and mother in the one place she never thought she'd be.

In this tale of triumph over fear and shame, we first meet a child uncertain about where she belongs, then a determined 21-year old on her way to better things, a young mother facing the all-too-familiar and harrowing choices between family and career, and a parent facing the unthinkable. What she doesn't yet know is that the deep shame of childhood sexual abuse is at the root of her relentless pursuit to leave the past behind. On her journey, she will discover ties to her Oahu homeland and a long line of strong women ancestors that will reconnect her to her true power.