Kate Murray is the main character in my book The Zen of Fish. She’s a real person; you can learn more about her here. She’d fallen into depression during high school; attending sushi school was her way of restarting her life—but it wasn’t that simple.

A few months ago I sent Kate an advance copy of the book. She’d known that I was writing about her, but she hadn’t known that she was the main character.

Kate told me that she read the entire book the day she received it, then shared it with her best friend, then with her mother. I’d met Kate’s mom, Julie Murray, while researching the book. Julie had come to the sushi academy several times to have Kate serve her sushi during a practice session behind the sushi bar.

I was curious what it had been like for a mother to read a book about her own daughter. So, a few days ago I called Julie and asked her. I also asked her what it had been like watching Kate suffer, and how she’d reacted to Kate’s idea of attending sushi school. We spoke for about 20 minutes. Here’s what she said:

High school was rough for Kate. She had moved out of the house and was living in an apartment. It was midway through her senior year of high school that she got sick and was in and out of the hospital. I saw her pretty much every day, and I was glad I was able to go visit her in the hospital.

But I didn’t know what to do when she fell into depression. Watching her go through that was difficult for me. It was a helpless feeling, knowing that even if I stepped in it didn’t help. That was hard.

We were skeptical of her going to sushi school. But I thought it was a good step for her, to get her back into things. I just thought it was funny. And it’s still funny—it’s funny to tell people my daughter is a sushi chef. I would never have guessed she would go into food service. But everything is a step on a journey. I was happy to see her take a step on a career path.

The first time she served me sushi it was totally fun. I was worried that she would be embarrassed about me, that she wouldn’t be happy to see me when I showed up at the restaurant. But she was.

But I hadn’t realized how hard sushi school had been for her until I read The Zen of Fish. Having read the book, and seen her reaction, I’m thrilled. It really validated her to herself. When she found out she was a protagonist in the story, she was excited. I think she feels better about her life.