Leigh Kramer's Reviews > Crying in H Mart

A powerful and poignant grief memoir. At times, I was amazed by just how raw and honest the author was regarding some of the stories she shared. But overwhelmingly, I was lost in the pages of her story. Grief and loss don’t magically heal complex relationships, like the one Zauner had with her mom, especially given the stress of being a caregiver. There’s much she had to navigate and negotiate, even in terms of how present she should be once her mom was diagnosed.

I appreciated how she wove in stories from the past and present and how they illustrated an aspect about herself or her mom and then how that evolved after her mom died. Grief changes us and I found her reflections about what this meant for her Koreanness, and the way she sought to find connection through food, to be quite moving. I’m not sure that I’ll want to watch the adaptation but I’m very glad I read this.

Content notes: on page death of mother (squamous cell carcinoma), hospice, hospitalization, chemotherapy side effects, weight loss (author due to stress and her mother due to chemotherapy), off page death of aunt (colon cancer), off page death of grandmother, grief, Peter was attacked and a brick crushed his orbital bone (recovered fine), cigarettes, alcohol, inebriation, microaggressions, father is recovered addict, alcoholic father, father gets into bad car accident while drinking (not charged), father was a serial cheater, corporal punishment (even as a college freshman), suicidal ideation, mother had an abortion, mention of abusive paternal grandfather (view spoiler)[paratrooper in WWII who crash-landed in Guam and witnessed the death of his entire unit before he was rescued. When he returned, he physically abused his children and raped his wife, which is how she became pregnant with the author’s father. She left him before giving birth. (hide spoiler)], paternal uncle was physically abusive toward author’s father when they were kids, family friend’s history includes infidelity (her own and her father)