Book Review: “Umma’s Table” by Yeon-Sik Hong

“Umma’s Table” by Yeon-Sik Hong (2020)

Genre: Graphic Novel, Fiction

Page Length: 360 pages (paperback edition)

Synopsis:

Madang is an artist and new father who moves to a quiet home in the countryside with his wife and young baby, excited to build a new life full of hope and joy, complete with a garden and even snow. But soon reality sets in and his attention is divided between his growing happy family and his impoverished parents back in Seoul in a dingy basement apartment. With an ailing mother in and out of the hospital and an alcoholic father, Madang struggles to overcome the exhaustion and frustration of trying to be everything all at once: a good son, devoted father, and loving husband.

To cope, he finds himself reminiscing about their family meals together, particularly his mother’s kimchi, a traditional dish that is prepared by the family and requires months of fermentation. Memories of his mother’s glorious cooking—so good it would prompt a young Madang and his brother into song—soothe the family. With her impending death, Madang races to learn her recipes and bring together the three generations at the family table while it’s still possible. This is a beautiful and thoughtful meditation on how the kitchen and communal cooking—in the past, present, and future—bind a family together amidst the inevitable.

Review:

Umma’s Table is a beautifully written story about food and family. Following the narrative of Madang’s journey of living in the countryside, readers see him try to establish a new life for himself and his family. All the while Madang is starting new beginnings he grapples with the ailing health of his parents. With both of Madang’s parent’s conditions slowly deteriorating he tries to learn his mother’s recipes to pass them along to future generations.

Personally, this novel was hard for me to read at times and it made me cry too. Reading this novel made me think about loves ones who have since passed in my own life. The narrative of the novel shows readers how food can be such a powerful thing. It brings us together, helps us cope (as Madang remembers his mother’s heart dishes to deal with grief), and has traditions that are passed down from one person to another. It is also a story about dealing with grief and feeding support in hard times.

I appreciated that the characters rather than being drawn as humans resemble cats (?) which brings a sort of uniqueness to the storytelling process. There is such detail to each panel and its features. There were so many delicious recipes featured in this novel that made me want to seek out some new Korean foods to try.

Apparently, Umma’s Table is a (somewhat) sequel to a previous work by Hong and the powerful narrative of this novel has me wanting to seek out more of his works. Though slow-paced I appreciated how the novel takes its time telling Madang’s story. My only complaint is that I wish his wife’s character (who is heavily featured in the plot) was explored more in the novel. A highly recommended read!

Final Verdict: