Crying in H Mart

The mother-daughter dynamic is a slow and careful walk, holding hands, across a shaky bridge over the abyss. During the teen years, the hands are often dropped and the bridge is generally missing whole sections.

Crying in H Mart is the story of Michelle Zauner's fraught relationship with her mother. Her mother is seen as demanding, petty, unrelenting. Michelle is described as a difficult child. Their relationship is turbulent. The two find moments of peace together through the common bond of their deep love for Korean food.

And then Michelle's mother gets sick. And then she dies. And Michelle is allowed, finally, to cry, to weep, to wail.

Crying in H Mart is a story anyone who has battled with a parent, anyone who has tried to connect with a parent, anyone who has lost a parent can read and love. The writing is vivid, fresh. The stories are completely new while also feeling common to all of us. Zauner does go on a bit too much (for me) about food; at times, I got lost in the detail and in my unfamiliarity with the foods described. But the emotional connection with this book is powerful and evocative and, oddly, healing.