Narrator: Imagine graduating from Princeton, one of the most elite universities in the world, only to find yourself with no job, no money, and a future so uncertain that a violent argument with your father ends with you being thrown out of your childhood home. This isn't a story of failure, but the chaotic starting point for Casey Han, a young woman caught between the crushing expectations of her Korean immigrant family and her own desperate craving for a glamorous Manhattan life she can't afford. She is a walking paradox: armed with a world-class education yet adrift in a sea of debt, and yearning for acceptance in a world that seems to demand she sacrifice her identity. This profound struggle lies at the heart of Min Jin Lee’s sprawling, Dickensian debut novel, Free Food for Millionaires. It’s a book that dissects the intricate, often painful, realities of class, ambition, and cultural identity in modern America.

Narrator: The novel opens with a powerful epigraph from James Baldwin: "Our crowns have been bought and paid for—all we have to do is wear them." This idea suggests an inherent worth, a dignity secured by the sacrifices of those who came before. For Casey Han, the daughter of hardworking Korean immigrants, this crown is her Princeton education, a prize paid for by her parents' relentless labor in their Queens dry-cleaning business. Yet, the moment she tries to wear it on her own terms, the conflict explodes.

The story begins not with celebration, but with confrontation. Casey returns home without a prestigious job offer, a decision that her father, Joseph, sees as a betrayal of their family's sacrifice. To him, her Ivy League degree was not for self-discovery; it was a direct path to financial security, a way to escape the toil that defined his own life. The ensuing argument is a brutal clash of two worlds: the immigrant parent's fear of poverty and the American-raised child's desire for personal fulfillment. The fight escalates from bitter words to physical violence, culminating in Joseph throwing Casey out of the house. In this single, traumatic event, the paradox is laid bare. The very "crown" her parents paid for becomes the source of her exile, and she is forced to confront the staggering cost of wearing it in a way that is true to herself, not just to their expectations.

Narrator: Once cast out, Casey’s journey becomes a searing critique of the American Dream. The novel’s title, Free Food for Millionaires, comes from an anecdote about wealthy investment bankers eagerly lining up for free office lunches—a perfect metaphor for a society where the "haves" perpetually accumulate more, while the "have-nots" grapple with pride and survival. Casey is determined to cross this divide. She leverages a connection to land a job on a Wall Street trading floor, a hyper-masculine world of intense pressure and casual cruelty.

This pursuit of a "glittering world" comes at a steep price. Casey quickly amasses over $12,000 in credit card debt, buying expensive clothes to fit an image of success she has yet to achieve. Her ambition leads her into a series of moral compromises, most notably an affair with Hugh Underhill, a charming and manipulative broker who helped her get the internship. The relationship is a transaction of power and desire, one that offers a temporary thrill but leaves her feeling objectified and hollow. Her journey through the corporate world reveals that upward mobility isn't just about hard work; it's a landscape of ethical gray areas, social maneuvering, and personal betrayals that forces her to question whether the dream she is chasing is worth the person she is becoming.

Narrator: Parallel to the fictional struggles of her characters is the remarkable real-life story of the author, Min Jin Lee. Her journey to publish Free Food for Millionaires was an eleven-year "apprenticeship" that mirrors the novel's themes of perseverance, sacrifice, and the hidden costs of a chosen path. After quitting her career as a lawyer, Lee faced years of financial hardship, running through her savings and taking on family debt. She couldn't afford an MFA, so she created her own rigorous writing education. She meticulously read the classics, transcribed paragraphs from authors she admired to understand their structure, and attended affordable workshops in New York City.

Her path was further complicated by a debilitating chronic liver disease that, at one point, became life-threatening. During a three-month treatment with severe side effects, she conserved what little energy she had for her young son and for her manuscript, determined to finish the first draft. Miraculously, a year after the treatment, her doctors declared her cured—a "one in a million" outcome. This harrowing experience gave her a new perspective, a belief that life was unexpected and she could no longer be afraid of judgment. Lee's own story of overcoming immense personal and financial adversity to create her art adds a profound layer to the novel, demonstrating that the struggle for self-realization, whether for a fictional character or a real-life author, is a long and arduous journey fueled by unwavering dedication.

Narrator: The novel is structured in three parts: "Works," "Plans," and finally, "Grace." This progression charts Casey's evolution from a frantic pursuit of external validation to a place of inner peace and authenticity. After the disillusionment of Wall Street, the betrayal of her affair with Hugh, and the loss of her relationship with her boyfriend Unu to his gambling addiction, Casey hits rock bottom. All her material possessions are lost when Unu is evicted. The life she had so carefully constructed is gone.

It is in this moment of total loss that she finds her path to grace. She receives a permanent job offer from the investment bank—the ultimate prize she had been fighting for. But the victory feels empty. Instead, she finds inspiration in an unexpected gift: the hat collection of a recently deceased bookseller who had been a kind acquaintance. In the novel's closing moments, she reconciles with a recovering Unu and tells him she is not taking the Wall Street job or returning to business school. She is choosing to pursue her true passion: making hats. By rejecting the conventional definition of success, Casey finally claims her own. She embraces a life built not on wealth or status, but on creativity, forgiveness, and authentic connection, finally learning how to wear her own crown with grace.

Narrator: The single most important takeaway from Free Food for Millionaires is that the relentless pursuit of a life defined by others—whether by family, society, or the allure of wealth—is a path to profound emptiness. True success is not an external achievement but an internal alignment, a courageous act of self-acceptance. Min Jin Lee masterfully shows that the journey to find one's place in the world is often messy, filled with mistakes, and requires shedding the very ambitions we once thought would save us.

The book leaves us with a challenging question that echoes long after the final page. We are all born with a "crown" of some kind—a unique talent, a history of sacrifice, an inherent worth. The real test of life is not in earning it, but in having the courage to wear it authentically. What is the crown you are meant to wear, and what are you willing to sacrifice not to gain the world, but to finally be true to yourself?