When Someone Else’s Story Broadens Our Own
Not long ago, fellow TCK and author Anna Redsand reached out and asked if we could exchange books—her 2025 release, Crevice: A Life Between Worlds, and Chosen Warrior, the June 2026 book I co-authored with my Liberian sister. Neither of us knew much about the other’s book, but we agreed to read and write reviews. A little risky, when you think about it.
Anna’s story comes from her experience as a White missionary kid growing up between Diné and White cultures and later working among the Diné.
Before reading her book, I had never heard of the Diné and knew very little about the Navajo Nation’s culture and history. I found myself wanting to learn more, so I did a little Googling along the way.
Anna has a unique way of putting into words what many of us Third Culture Kids (TCKs) struggle to explain—having a place feel like home and still wondering if you fully belong.
She calls the place between those worlds “Home Not Home.” Those three words say a lot about how it feels to be a TCK. Anna writes,
“I felt what I often feel at times like that—as if I am a ghost.”
She goes on to explain that the Diné she meets today have no way of knowing how deeply rooted she was there. "It's because the people I pass can't see me. Not really."
I understood that feeling. I have often felt something similar when returning to Liberia. People see a White woman, but they cannot see the childhood, the memories, or all the ways Liberia shaped me.
There were also parts of Anna’s story that did not reflect my own experience.
As a missionary kid and Adult Third Culture Kid (ATCK), I have a somewhat different understanding of missionary influence on Indigenous cultures. I saw much more that was positive, but I also recognize that what I experienced does not tell the whole story.
Her book challenged me to think about that.
Another person’s perspective does not have to become our own for their story to broaden ours.
Exchanging books with Anna reminded me how much we can gain when we read how others experienced the world. It even got me thinking about my own memoir and what I really want to say through it.
Perhaps we should read more stories outside our own little corner of the world. Like me, you might just find out you don’t know everything.
If you are a TCK or simply interested in how culture and place shape us, I recommend Crevice. It is a story that will give you plenty to think about.
~ Georgie
Georgie, I love this reflection so much. I didn't think of our exchange as risky, though I understand why you'd say that. From things I'd previously seen you post on FB, I had some sense of the humility and willingness to open to unfamiliar ideas that you express here. If humility and open-mindedness aren't listed in the characteristics of ATCKs, they are qualities I would hope we've all been gifted from our TCK experiences. You describe beautifully here how possible and perhaps even essential it is for us humans to open to other perspectives while being comfortable with holding our own. If we could all do that, there would be so much less intolerance, division, and violence in our world.…