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The book opens with Michelle’s confession that, ever since her mother’s death, she cannot shop at H Mart without breaking down. H Mart is an Asian grocery store chain that she describes as a place that provides its international patrons with a sense of home and comfort. It reminds her of her mother and the bond they shared over their love of Korean food and their shared heritage. 

Michelle was born in Seoul and grows up in Eugene, Oregon, the daughter of a Korean woman and a white man. She is a difficult, energetic child, the inverse of her eternally clean and composed mother, and suffers from paranoia borne of separation anxiety. Though she is a troublemaker, she impresses her family with a sophisticated palate when it comes to Korean food. Every other summer Michelle goes with her mother to Korea, where they visit her mother’s sisters Nami and Eunmi, Michelle’s grandmother Halmoni, and older cousin Seong Young to eat well and spend time together. When Michelle is fourteen, her grandmother dies, and she witnesses her own mother’s outpouring of emotion for the first time.  

Michelle goes to Bryn Mawr for college and afterward stays on in Philly, living with her boyfriend Peter while working as a waitress and playing in a band. When she is twenty-five and visiting New York City, she receives a call from her parents with the news that her mother has a tumor in her stomach. Michelle moves back to Oregon to help take care of her mother; upon her return she recalls her difficult adolescence, during which she was constantly at odds with her parents, depressed, failing in school, with music acting as the only remedy to her existential dread. Her relationship with her mother has improved since going to college, and she commits herself fully to the role of caretaker as her mother’s illness begins to take hold. 

Her mother’s chemotherapy begins with disastrous results. Michelle tries to cook Korean dishes to tempt her mother’s appetite, but she cannot keep anything down and eventually needs to go to the hospital. Michelle sleeps there with her for two weeks, and begins resenting her father for his lack of emotional strength. When her mother returns home from the hospital, her friend Kye arrives to help take care of her. At first, Michelle feels hopeful; Kye is an adept, upright caretaker, and reassures the family. But after a while Michelle feels shut out of her mother’s recovery, and threatened by her relationship with Kye. Michelle recalls her aunt Eunmi dying of cancer, undergoing absurd amounts of chemo before her death at age forty-eight. At Eunmi’s funeral Michelle fears that, with the deaths of her aunt and grandmother, she is losing her connection to Korea. 

With her mom relatively stable, Michelle leaves to tour with her band. When the tour is over, she receives news that the chemo has not worked, and her mother will not recover. The family decides to meet in Korea so that Michelle’s mother can say goodbye to her sister Nami, and show Michelle her favorite places before she dies. When Michelle arrives at Nami’s apartment, however, she finds her mother is deeply ill and needs to go again to a hospital, where she goes into septic shock. The severity of the situation sinks in, and when her mother gains lucidity, Michelle calls Peter to ask him to marry her so that her mother can have something to live for. Peter agrees, and Michelle flies home with her mother and father to begin preparations for the wedding. 

The wedding is planned within three weeks of their return to the states, and is a wonderful occasion. Michelle and Peter exchange heartfelt vows in her parents’ backyard, and Michelle’s mother is able to enjoy the party before retiring early. When the festivities are over, she begins to weaken, and Michelle spends most of her days quietly watching TV by her mother’s side. One night Kye and Michelle’s father get into a fight, and Kye leaves in anger. Two days later Michelle’s mother bolts upright in extreme pain, and Michelle and her father sedate her with opioids until the day that she finally dies. Wracked with grief, Michelle dresses her mother’s corpse before going to an apple orchard with Peter to process her shock. 

Michelle and her father plan a funeral for her mother. Nami and Seong Young arrive along with many of her mother’s friends, and Michelle feels awkward, bottling up her emotions until after the funeral when she breaks down in a restaurant. When it is over and everyone has left, Michelle and her father take a lavish trip to Vietnam, where they get into a big fight one night and return feeling even more disconnected in their relationship than when they left. To cope, Michelle begins cooking extravagant American meals. However, she is unsatisfied with everything until one day she cooks a Korean recipe by the YouTuber Maangchi, a dish that reminds her of her mother and brings her deep comfort. 

In the months following her mother’s death Michelle works at a pizza place, records an album, and honeymoons with Peter in Korea, where she reconnects with Nami and visits all the places her mother wanted to take her. Afterwards, she moves with Peter to Brooklyn, where she uses Maangchi’s videos to learn how to make Kimchi and other Korean dishes. While working in Brooklyn her album gains popularity, and soon she is on tour with her band, becoming famous. They schedule a tour of Asia, and play a victorious final show in Seoul. Michelle reflects on how lucky she has been in the year following her mother’s death, and suspects her mother’s spirit is watching over her. Before they leave the country, Michelle sings one of her mother’s favorite songs at karaoke with Nami, feeling a deep sense of connection in her relationship with Nami and her Korean heritage.

Previous section Chapters 19 & 20

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