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A review by leahsbooks
Crying in H Mart by Michelle Zauner
5.0
Wow, this book absolutely blew my mind, and broke my heart, all at the same time. I listened to the audiobook which is narrated by the author herself, and I could feel her pain throughout the entire reading.
The story itself feels more like a journey through her own grief for herself, more so than for the reader. But it resonated with me as well. Like many of us, Michelle had a complicated relationship with her mother, but set everything aside to care for her mother when she was diagnosed with cancer. As she watched her mother fight and eventually lose her battle, she takes us on a journey back and forth in time - through her early years, the difficult years of growing up with a mother who doesn't always seem to understand her, and the way in which she copes with the immense loss of a mother who she didn't really get to know fully - and a mother who didn't really get to understand her completely.
So much of her time with her mother was spent immersed in her Korean culture, centering around food, which seems to be a common bond. Michelle focuses on the comfort foods that she grew up with, the foods she worked hard to learn how to prepare in her efforts to get her mother to eat something, anything, and finally, continued to cook after her mother's passing in an effort to feel connected to her.
I was surprised at how much emotion this story kicked up for me, as someone who was a caretaker for my own father as he died from cancer, wasting away as my mother and I worked to get him to eat anything at all - so when the author spoke about her experiences I could understand it on a visceral level. My heart broke for this woman, because I knew a little piece of what she went through.
This book is absolutely amazing, both heartwarming and gut-wrenching at the same time, but incredibly moving. No matter how differently we all grow up, we can all empathize with the experience of loss, isolation, and grief, and how it manifests. This is a must-read.
The story itself feels more like a journey through her own grief for herself, more so than for the reader. But it resonated with me as well. Like many of us, Michelle had a complicated relationship with her mother, but set everything aside to care for her mother when she was diagnosed with cancer. As she watched her mother fight and eventually lose her battle, she takes us on a journey back and forth in time - through her early years, the difficult years of growing up with a mother who doesn't always seem to understand her, and the way in which she copes with the immense loss of a mother who she didn't really get to know fully - and a mother who didn't really get to understand her completely.
So much of her time with her mother was spent immersed in her Korean culture, centering around food, which seems to be a common bond. Michelle focuses on the comfort foods that she grew up with, the foods she worked hard to learn how to prepare in her efforts to get her mother to eat something, anything, and finally, continued to cook after her mother's passing in an effort to feel connected to her.
I was surprised at how much emotion this story kicked up for me, as someone who was a caretaker for my own father as he died from cancer, wasting away as my mother and I worked to get him to eat anything at all - so when the author spoke about her experiences I could understand it on a visceral level. My heart broke for this woman, because I knew a little piece of what she went through.
This book is absolutely amazing, both heartwarming and gut-wrenching at the same time, but incredibly moving. No matter how differently we all grow up, we can all empathize with the experience of loss, isolation, and grief, and how it manifests. This is a must-read.