The Reading Cure
Laura Freeman
I first heard about this book on (where else?) an episode of The High Low. Laura Freeman was interviewed for an author segment and her lovely, intelligent manner prompted me to get my hands on a copy of her book. The Reading Cure is really unlike any book I've read before. Laura bravely and warmly shares the story of her recovery from anorexia; a recovery put into motion and sustained by all kinds of literature. She reads her way through classics, war stories, and travel fiction, paying attention to the sustaining and unifying powers of food as she does so. Laura doesn't shy away from the grim realities of anorexia; describing the toll the disease took on her body and mind in stark and sobering terms; but the novel is tinged with hope throughout. Books are her lifeline and the sharp-witted, adventure-going, well-fed characters in them her pointers to a better path. The book is not instructional by any means; Laura doesn't prescribe reading as a panacea for all life's ills and openly admits that she will likely struggle with her anorexia for the rest of her life. Nevertheless, it is redemptive, and I closed it with deep satisfaction and a long list of new books to read - really the ideal outcome from reading any book!
Min Jin Lee
Remember when I read Pachinko earlier this year and loved it? Min Jin Lee has further won her way into my heart and mind with her first novel, Free Food for Millionaires. Shockingly, this book is even lengthier that Pachinko, but aside from worrying that my monthly book count was going to be lower than normal (not that it's been very high recently), I didn't mind. Free Food for Millionaires tells the story of Casey Han (and the supporting cast of her life) as she navigates her way through post-college life as an uncertain, fairly naïve but nonetheless competent Korean woman. Casey lives her life in the upper echelons of New York society without ever fully belonging there; this dissonance inevitably results in unhappiness. I found the writing style of Free Food for Millionaires very different to Pachinko, although not in an unpleasant way. Lee writes with as much searing intelligence and honesty as ever, and the themes of family, class and identity are just as present here as in her second novel, albeit in different ways. Min Jin Lee has become one of my favourite contemporary writers and I look forward to savouring more of her work in coming years.
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