About the Book

How does a woman go from being a normal Midwestern mom to sitting across the table from a bounty hunter? That’s what Kathleen English Cadmus wondered as she took one more surreal step in her quest to find and save her teenage daughter, Laura.

The beautiful baby Kathleen had adopted from Korea was on the run again, fueled by another manic episode brought on by her bipolar disorder.

Having already lost her son Shawn to a tragic accident, Kathleen couldn’t bear the thought that she had failed to protect another one of her children.

Intertwined: A Mother’s Memoir is a raw but loving tribute to the pain and beauty of motherhood—the story of a mother, a daughter, a son, two marriages, and the way all of those lives are at once distinct yet inseparable. Intertwined illustrates the way the people we love become part of us—become us—and show us who we truly are.

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Endorsements and Reviews

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“This book about love, hope, healing, and the survival of a family is raw and honest and generous as Cadmus shares the difficulties they faced. For readers seeking to learn about resiliency, growth, and ways of coping, Intertwined: A Mother’s Memoir has much to offer.”

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“Intertwined … broke my heart in all the right ways. Kathleen English Cadmus has written a triumphant memoir.”

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“Intertwined is a must-read, full of grace.”

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“Intertwined contains many stories: a mother’s agony at the death of a son, her joy in adopting a daughter from South Korea, her pursuit of this daughter who ran away from home, her daughter’s reunion with her birth family, and the reconciliation of two mothers of the same child.  What unifies these gripping, intertwined tales is the central paradox of parents and children, that ‘running away’ from those we love can eventually become ‘running toward.’ ”

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“Intertwined, A Mother’s Memoir is a heartfelt, brave, raw, yet hopeful journey of a mother’s loss and unconditional love. Its honest look into grief and parenting a child with bipolar disorder will transfix and inspire.”

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“… Nothing less than a new myth of who we are becoming: the multiethnic, transnational American family. Well done!”

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“I highly recommend this book for everyone who has negotiated the journey of a devastating loss.”

In the News

About the Author

Kathleen English Cadmus is a mental health nurse practitioner who earned her MFA in Creative Writing from Ashland (Ohio) University. As a bereaved parent of a son and an adoptive parent of a daughter with bipolar disorder, Kathleen has been active in both the adoption communities and the mental health arenas. She has had her writing published in local newspapers, adoption newsletters, and the nursing anthology Learning to Heal (Kent State University Press, 2018). Kathleen lives in Columbus, Ohio, and is a mother to five children and grandmother to seven.

Ordering Information for Bookstores and Libraries
Intertwined: A Mother’s Memoir
$18.95 ISBN 978-0-9997422-3-5 (paperback)
BIOGRAPHY & AUTOBIOGRAPHY / Personal Memoirs
FAM032000 Family & Relationships / Parenting / Motherhood

Please call 937-483-4204 for special pricing and shipping information for bulk orders.

Intertwined is distributed by Independent Publishers Group.

Copyright © 2026 KiCam Projects.