Crying in H Mart
Zauner’s memoir reflects on her childhood and her relationship with her mother through the lens of caring for her mother as she dies. Zauner looks back at how her mother connected through food and Zauner’s desire to fit in as a multiracial person in the United States.
She has a complicated relationship with her mother. Expectations for school, beauty, and connection to her Korean heritage constantly seem at battle with expectations for growing up as an American. Zauner unpacks a lot in this book.
I think Zauner handles it all deftly and with care, demonstrating her complicated relationship with her mother and how much that relationship matters to her.
It’s a well-written book, even as I didn’t particularly enjoy it. Death is a hard topic to navigate. I can’t fault Zauner for that, and she did it splendidly. That said, this remains a book that I respect.