This is exactly the type of book that is I gravitate towards - family relationships, memoir, Asian-American culture, food. This book hit perfectly on all of those points for me. Growing up feeling torn between two cultures, Michelle details the ways in which her mother represented everything Korean in her life and the impact that has made on her.

Her writing is witty, descriptive, and engaging. This story reminded me so much of my relationship with my own mother - the complexities of culture clashes, constant power struggles, and strange ways in which love is given and received. The writing was impeccable and very impressive for a debut author. This was such a great read and has become one of my all-time favorite memoirs!

"When I go to H Mart, I'm not just on the hunt for cuttlefish and three bunches of scallions for buck; I'm searching for memories. I'm collecting the evidence that the Korean half of my identity didn't die when they did. H Mart is the bridge that guides me away from the memories that haunt me..."

In short, Crying in H Mart is the memoir of a woman who has lost her mother to cancer. Michelle was born in Seoul to a Korean mother and American father with a traumatic past. During most of her earlier years, being half Korean was somewhat inconsequential to Michelle, and not particularly outstanding to her...serving more to separate her from her friends in Eugene, Oregon than anything else. Despite yearly trips to Korea, at which she struggled to understand Korean and enjoyed eating more than just about anything else, Michelle's Korean-ness was unremarkable.

Once Michelle's mother becomes terminally ill, everything changes for her. She returns home from her carefree life in Philadelphia to help care for her bedridden mother and to bond with her as never before, and in so doing, becomes fascinated with learning to cook Korean food, at first to help to feed her mother, who can hardly tolerate any food at all, and later to "become" her mother. This pursuit turns more compelling after her mother passes away, leaving Michelle totally bereft and searching for meaning in the aftermath. It is then when Michelle intentionally and passionately seeks to connect with her Korean side, and she narrates her journey with intimate details of her thoughts and feelings. Her relationship with her father is a tenuous one, and as he moves further from her in real life, Michelle becomes closer to her mother in death than when she had been alive..

This memoir is heartbreaking and beautifully written. I feel that there were too many elaborate descriptions of food and recipes, that at times served to slow down the story for me, but in all it is a read that takes us into the author's mind as a biracial person who is negotiating her identity, and as a person who has suffered an irreparable loss. TW for those who have lost or are losing a person to cancer.
#NetGalley #CryingInHMart

Heartbreaking and healing, this may have been the best memoir I have read since Know My Name. Michelle intricately weaves together the grief of losing a parent and the navigation of identity in a way that welcomes the reader in effortlessly. While I have extremely limited knowledge of Korean food, it was so easy to identify with the ways that specific foods can trigger memories and feelings of home and family. This memoir is moving, thoughtful, and extremely clever.

I loved it. It was heartfelt without being sappy; the descriptions of food and Korea were transporting. Really solid memoir about a difficult time.