Bethany (Beautifully Bookish Bethany)'s Reviews > A Living Remedy: A Memoir

I loved Nicole Chungs debut memoir about being a transracial adoptee, so I knew I wanted to pick this up as well. And boy did it hit hard. A Living Remedy is a memoir that is really about illness, healthcare, and poverty as well as dealing with grief and loss. I found parts of it to be very relatable and got me thinking about the ways my experiences growing up without wealth have influenced me as an adult. Nicole grew up in the sort of poverty that isn't getting help to survive, but is barely staying above the surface when things are going well. Much less when things aren't.

Not having health insurance, rarely seeing doctors, parents putting off getting seen until things are really bad for fear of medical bills, going to college only on scholarships and working to pay for your own extras, and the way that financial fears impact the choices you make or the opportunities you let go in college. That was all super relatable. And she contrasts that with her husband who grew up solidly middle class but with enough to manage and doesn't carry the same relationship to money. Then she pulls that through line to her parents aging, dealing with illnesses like diabetes and cancer but struggling to afford proper care, and then dealing with grief and loss in the wake of the COVID pandemic. And what it's like to lose a parent earlier than you ever expected to. And dealing with grief while parenting young children who are also trying to come to terms with loss. I got very emotional reading this book and I think so many of us have experienced grief and loss in the last few years it's going to resonate with a lot of readers. Her writing is beautiful and evocative, both personal and universal in a way that can be hard to achieve. Highly recommend.