First published 2023
Rabia Chaudry opens her memoir with a stark declaration about her body and weight. Throughout her life, she has existed in a state of being "less fat and more fat, but never not fat." Raised in a Pakistani Muslim family that expressed love through food, Chaudry grew up surrounded by fresh roti, chaat, pakoras, and shorba alongside Pizza Hut and Dairy Queen as her family navigated their adopted American home through its cuisine. She chronicles her numerous attempts to reach what others deemed her ideal weight, efforts that repeatedly failed because she could never bring herself to resent food. The memoir weaves together three distinct threads: a celebration of Pakistani cooking complete with her cherished recipes, a tribute to her Muslim family spanning from her current home to relatives in Lahore, and an unflinching examination of learning to accept a body that functions well but defies external expectations. Chaudry ultimately crafts a story about making peace with herself.
Genres: family-life, autobiography, biography-memoir, cooking, cultural, food-writing
Vibes: emotional-atmospheric, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: coming-of-age, found-family, self-acceptance
Setting: America, Lahore, Pakistan
Period: 21st-century
352 pages · Paperback · Algonquin Books