In her viral New Yorker essay, Michelle Zauner questioned how you recover from grief, following the death of her mother. Here, we break down why you should read Crying in H Mart and why it’s such an important release. Pick up a copy of the book here.
Michelle Zauner’s 2021 memoir Crying in H Mart was written following the publication of her viral New Yorker essay. In the essay, Zauner explored her grief and heritage, showing what she had learned from her mother, both emotionally and in the kitchen. Zauner found herself regularly taking pilgrimages to H Mart, looking at her cultural and culinary heritage and it is in H Mart that the memoir is rooted. ‘In the H Mart food court, I find myself again, searching for the first chapter of the story that I want to tell about my mother.’ This is more than just a memoir about grief, its an exploration of self and discovering Zauner’s own identity, both as the child of immigrants and finding her place and purpose in America as the front woman of the band Japanese Breakfast.
Zauner tenderly portrays her mother’s death, delicately unveiling the layers of the story and her deterioration during chemotherapy, in a way that allows room to explore the complications of the relationship both between Zauner and her mother and father. Upon this backdrop, food is the vehicle for much of the novel, laying out a love of Korean food that is rich and deep, from barchan to pine-nut porridge.
Above all, Crying in H Mart is a story that explores the nuances of familial relationships, heritage and loss – a tender novel that will help anyone in times of loss or being lost.
