Chris BOTY 2023 - Crying in H Mart
‘Crying in H Mart’, Michelle Zauner, 2021
A beautiful and moving autobiographical story written, and in the audio version read, by the leader of the popular band, ‘Japanese Breakfast’. Zauner wrote’ Crying in H Mart’ as a way of working through her grief at her mother’s death of cancer. The book was a critical and popular success. In this account of family, food, grief, and endurance, Michelle Zauner proves herself far more than an engaging singer, songwriter, and guitarist.
She was born in Seoul to a Korean Mother and an American father but moved to the USA when she was three months old. The family lived, somewhat isolated, in the state of Oregon. There she grew up and went to school where she was one of the very few Asian-American kids.
The story tells of her mother’s high expectations of her, difficult at times, and of the deep bond that developed between them through their shared love of food and the ritual of its preparation and consumption. This is what supports her through her mother’s illness and death of cancer. The highlights of their lives together are the summer holidays spent in Seoul with their Korean family. Michelle develops a strong relationship with her grandmother despite the language barrier. The relationship with her father is more difficult.
For those of you who don’t know, H Mart is a supermarket chain that specializes in Asian food. The ‘H’ stands for ‘han ah reum’, a Korean phrase that roughly translates to ‘one arm full of groceries.’ The crying is partly because of her frustration at not being able to phone up her mother and ask her what was the exact brand of seaweed they used to buy.
In the audiobook, the author’s voice is warm and even: how she manages to stay on track whilst I am welling up I don’t know. But the intense emotion and the passion when she is describing the Korean food comes through nevertheless. Her music, written during the same period is similarly expressive.
Note: YouTube videos come with adverts!