I adored Crying in H Mart. It’s been on my TBR for years and I’m so glad I finally read it. It’s 100% worth all the hype I had seen! Keep reading this book review of Crying in H Mart for my full thoughts.
Summary
In this exquisite story of family, food, grief, and endurance, Michelle Zauner proves herself far more than a dazzling singer, songwriter, and guitarist. With humour and heart, she tells of growing up the only Asian-American kid at her school in Eugene, Oregon; of struggling with her mother’s particular, high expectations of her; of a painful adolescence; of treasured months spent in her grandmother’s tiny apartment in Seoul, where she and her mother would bond, late at night, over heaping plates of food. As she grew up, moving to the east coast for college, finding work in the restaurant industry, performing gigs with her fledgling band – and meeting the man who would become her husband – her Koreanness began to feel ever more distant, even as she found the life she wanted to live.
It was her mother’s diagnosis of terminal pancreatic cancer, when Michelle was twenty-five, that forced a reckoning with her identity and brought her to reclaim the gifts of taste, language, and history her mother had given her.
Review
(Disclaimer: I received this book from the Libro.fm. This has not impacted my review which is unbiased and honest.)
Crying in H Mart is an homage to the love language of food. It’s full of explosive tastes, meals seasoned with salty tears, and food that opens up an ache within us. Food is full of memories, insecurities, and fears. But it’s also full of joy, compassion, and solidarity. Food acts as a connection to who we are, our heritage, our family, and the missing pieces. It’s more than just sustenance. And Crying in H Mart pulls apart the layers of grief, food, and memory. Zauner’s portrayal of grief, of being a care taker, about witnessing the crumbling of our loved ones resonated deeply.
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It’s an obvious story about grief, but it’s also about love and what we miss. The ways we don’t understand what will take us back to those moments. My heart was constantly weeping, sighing, and growing while listening to this. The audiobook is narrated by the author which is a phenomenal touch. I’d 100% recommend this as an audiobook if you like that format. There’s something about being read by the author that makes it extra special. I would 100% recommend Crying in H Mart. I don’t read many memoirs, but this is something special. Find Crying in H Mart on Goodreads, Storygraph, Amazon, Bookshop. org, Blackwells, & Libro. fm.