Leigh Kramer's Reviews > A Living Remedy: A Memoir

A luminous exploration of grief, class, and the failure of the US medical system. Nicole Chung is an ever stunning writer.

One of my frequent critiques of memoirs is that they’re written too close to the events in question. That’s not the case here. I have no idea how she managed to write about losing both of her parents so soon after the loss but I’m grateful for the result.


Content notes: suicidal ideation, death of parents (father from diabetes and kidney disease, mother from ovarian/endometrial cancer and brain metastasis), COVID-19, mother previously diagnosed with breast cancer at age 43 (single mastectomy, declared in remission post-surgery), past emergency hysterectomy for mother (endometriosis), death of grandparents, past kidney transplant (paternal grandmother), anxiety, racism, diabetes diagnosis, author is a transracial adoptee, daughter is autistic, father was a smoker, wildfire (not in immediate danger)