SLOW NOODLES A Cambodian Memoir of Love, Loss, and Family Recipes

Clara Kim narrates her mother's memoir. The initial chapters describe Nguon's early years in Cambodia, which were filled with the abundance of her mother's gifted cooking and the love of her older siblings. Interspersed are joyfully remembered recipes. Sadly, Kim's narration fails to capture the elegance of this memoir's language. Later, when Pol Pot's genocide necessitates Nguon's dramatic departure to Vietnam without her mother, Kim's plodding pacing and flat tone don't reflect the horrors of the refugee experience with its omnipresent poverty and death. Returning to a decimated Cambodia, Nguon recovers from the trauma of her experiences by following her mother's philosophy on slow noodles to rebuild her life. If only the narration of this audiobook were more skillful. S.W. © AudioFile 2024, Portland, Maine [Published: FEBRUARY 2024]