The Hunger We Pass Down

In The Hunger We Pass Down, Jen Sookfong Lee has written a terrifying, visceral story of generational trauma and how it is passed down through five generations of women.

The book moves back and forth across the years and perspectives from 1938 Hong Kong through to current Vancouver, and Lee expertly weaves the histories of the women so that by the time Alice - our primary protagonist in Vancouver - meets her doppelgänger, we have an idea that this is the same trauma that haunted her great-grandmother Gigi, who was kidnapped and forced to work as a “comfort woman” to soldiers in Hong Kong. 

Lee does a masterful job putting us in the shoes of each woman, none of whom is perfect, but even when they make choices we are sure we wouldn’t make, we can understand, sympathize, and empathize with them. We mourn with them as much as we mourn for them and for the lives they could have had if they were not all haunted by this hunger which manifests not only as a physical entity - such as a ghost or an aswang - but also a psychological one with varying impacts, such as convincing one mother that the best way to protect her daughter was by beating her to harden her against the things that could hurt her in the world.

There are moments where I felt my stomach drop as I realized what was happening to someone, moments where I felt my stomach tighten in grief as the women lost loved ones, and moments where I felt my stomach heave at the descriptions bordering on body horror of how the ghost/demon manifested.

The Hunger We Pass Down is sad, terrifying, and dark as we watch generation after generation try to pass down a legacy of love, but instead they just pass down a legacy of trauma. 

Thank you to NetGalley and Kensington Publishing for the advance copy in exchange for my honest review. Pub. Date: 9/30/25

Support your favorite indie bookstore (and give us both 20% off if it’s your first purchase) by using my link at https://refer.bookshop.org/candidanorwood.