Trail of Crumbs
Kim Sunee, 2008
Grand Central Publishing
400 pp.
ISBN-13: 9780446697903
Summary
Already hailed as "brave, emotional, and gorgeously written" by Frances Mayes and "like a piece of dark chocolate—bittersweet, satisfying, and finished all too soon" by Laura Fraser, author of An Italian Affair, this is a unique memoir about the search for identity through love, hunger, and food.
Jim Harrison says, Trail of Crumbs reminds me of what heavily costumed and concealed waifs we all are. Kim Sunee tells us so much about the French that I never learned in 25 trips to Paris, but mostly about the terrors and pleasure of that infinite octopus, love. A fine book."
When Kim Sunee was three years old, her mother took her to a marketplace, deposited her on a bench with a fistful of food, and promised she'd be right back. Three days later a policeman took the little girl, clutching what was now only a fistful of crumbs, to a police station and told her that she'd been abandoned by her mother.
Fast-forward almost 20 years and Kim's life is unrecognizable. Adopted by a young New Orleans couple, she spends her youth as one of only two Asian children in her entire community. At the age of 21, she becomes involved with a famous French businessman and suddenly finds herself living in France, mistress over his houses in Provence and Paris, and stepmother to his eight year-old daughter.
Kim takes readers on a lyrical journey from Korea to New Orleans to Paris and Provence, along the way serving forth her favorite recipes. A love story at heart, this memoir is about the search for identity and a book that will appeal to anyone who is passionate about love, food, travel, and the ultimate search for self. (From the publisher.)
Author Bio
• Birth—1970 or 1971
• Where—South Korea
• Reared—New Orleans, Louisiana, USA
• Currently—lives in Birmingham, Alabama
Kim Sunee is the founding food editor of Cottage Living. She was born in South Korea and adopted and raised in New Orleans, and lived in Europe for ten years. She now resides in Birmingham, Alabama. (From the publisher.)
Book Reviews
Ms. Sunee’s memoir chronicles her life so far—its physical and emotional hungers and the rapturous meals she has eaten or cooked while searching the world for love, a convincing identity and a sense, still elusive, of being at home.... Most chapters of Trail of Crumbs end with evocative recipes gleaned from places she has traveled or lived, including Korea, Sweden, Louisiana and France. "The French food in her book is so distinctive and sensuous that the recipes seem like sonnets or odes,” said Frances Mayes, a friend of Ms. Sunee and the author of Under the Tuscan Sun.
Mimi Read - New York Times
A satisfying blend of travelog and cookbook.... Her introspective prose conveys the uneasy limbo of a journey that is arduous and ongoing—but always delicious.
People
On making Sunee's acquaintance in the introduction to this charming memoir, it's hard not to envy the young woman swimming laps in the pool overlooking the orchard of her petit ami's vast compound in the High Alps of Provence, but below the surface of this portrait is a turbulent quest for identity. Abandoned at age three in a Korean marketplace, Sunee is adopted by an American couple who raise her in New Orleans. In the 1990s she settles, after a fashion, in France with Olivier Baussan, a multimillionaire of epicurean tastes and—at least in her depiction—controlling disposition. She struggles to create a home for herself in the kitchen, cooking gargantuan meals for their large circle of friends, until her restive nature and Baussan's impatience with her literary ambitions compel her to move on. The gutsy Cajun and ethereal French recipes that serve as chapter codas are matched by engaging storytelling. Alas, for all Sunée's preoccupation with the geography of home, her insights on the topic are disappointingly slight, and the facile wrapup offered in the form of resolution seems a shortcut in a book that traverses so much rocky terrain
Publishers Weekly
Sunee serves up mouthwatering descriptions of food and a generous helping of recipes. But her narrative, attempting to mix personal memoir and foodie lit, lacks the subtlety and sophistication of M. F. K. Fisher and Frances Mayes, both masters of the form. —Allison Block
Booklist
A restless young woman's poignant search for identity, accompanied by dozens of recipes. The founding food editor of Cottage Living magazine, Sunee was abandoned in a South Korean market at age three, adopted by a young American couple and raised in New Orleans. Uncertain of her exact age and ethnicity, she describes herself as a fish swimming upstream, someone who has been lost her whole life. She moved to Europe in her early 20s and met a wealthy French businessman, Olivier, who took over her life. He was older, not quite divorced and-though Sunee doesn't use the words—clearly a control freak. As Olivier's mistress, she wanted for nothing—except independence and her own identity. He planned all the details of their lives, arranged their travels and chose their friends. She tried to mother his young daughter and prepared sumptuous meals for his frequent guests. Almost every chapter ends with at least one and sometimes three or four recipes: crab, crawfish and po-boy sandwiches she learned to make from her New Orleans grandfather; directions for kimchi, a Korean salad; and many French dishes, including gratin de salsify, creme caramel and figs roasted in red wine with cream and honey. (Recipes may or may not be linked to the chapter that precedes them.) Sunee eventually left Olivier, lived alone and supported herself in Paris. She made her own friends and had an unhappy love affair, again with a married man. The mouthwatering recipes taper off at this point in her memoir, but there is still much about food and drink. The author closely observes and skillfully records all the nuances of texture, color, aroma and taste. From the crumbs in the fist of an abandoned three-year-old to bowls of richly sauced pasta, her text chronicles the entwining of food with security and love. At the end, Sunee is still restless, still seeking, still hungry. Vivid writing-and an inspiration to head to the kitchen.
Kirkus Reviews
Discussion Questions
1. In what ways is this a universal story, despite its unique circumstances?
2. "My early memories are always related to hunger," Kim says early in her story. Discuss the metaphorical hunger that is at the heart of her memoir.
3. One of the first identities given Kim in her adopted life is that of "official taster" by her beloved Poppy. What impact do you see on her subsequent understanding of self?
4. What is the importance of recipes throughout the book? What do they reveal about the author's journey of discovery?
5. How does geography affect Kim's developing identity? Why does she feel she belongs in some places and not in others?
6. What do Kim and Olivier offer each other? What can they never give each other? Why must Kim ultimately leave him?
7. Madame Song tells Kim that she's not abandoned but "very, very lost." What does she mean, and what is the distinction? How does Kim's sense of being lost manifest itself?
8. Is it true, as one of Kim's friends asserts, that "you can't be from nowhere"? Where, in the end, does Kim find "home"?
9. Was there any point during the book at which you wanted to tell Kim something? Words of advice, warning, or reassurance, for example? When?
10. What did you expect to come out of Kim's trip to Korea? Were you surprised? Disappointed?
11. Throughout the book, Kim's writing engages and involves all five senses. Which of these was most compelling for you? Why?
(Questions issued by publisher.)