The Wild Swans by Jackie Morris
Published by Unbound, 2021
Rating: ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐
Rather than reimagining the story, as most modern takes on fairy tales do, this is very much the classic Hans Christian Andersen story, retold in Morris’ own words, accompanied by her stunning watercolour illustrations. Sticking faithfully to the original text, any small changes and additions feel well placed, fleshing out the characters and adding greater emotional depth by exploring their motivations, especially where the “wicked stepmother” trope is concerned.
It stands fairly unique among the fairy tale canon; our princess very much the heroine of the piece as opposed to a damsel, and the primary focus on familial love over romance, as Eliza strives to outsmart a vengeful queen and save her brothers. It’s not easy to maintain the inherent air of whimsy and magic that comes with a fairy tale throughout a full-length text without it feeling overly twee, but Morris pulls it off. Her prose is simple yet lyrical, the perfect accompaniment to her artwork, which is as ethereal and enchanting as ever.
Coma by Zara Slattery
Published by Myriad Editions, 2021
Rating: ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐
This graphic memoir recounts a period of 15 days in 2013 when Slattery was placed in a drug-induced coma, after contracting a life-threatening bacterial infection that aggressively attacks the skin and muscle. The account flits back and forth between events in the “real world”, where her husband’s diary entries explain the efforts being made my medical staff to save Slattery’s life, while he looks after their children, and the hallucinogenic nightmares experienced by Slattery throughout her coma as she fights to regain consciousness.
The contrast between monochrome (real world events) and kaleidoscopic colour (Slattery’s nightmares) works really well to emphasize both the bewilderment the author experienced, and the necessary persistence of mundane, domestic life for her loved ones, despite them living through a time of such heightened anxiety and emotion.
Slattery’s story is a great example of how people can rally together during a crisis, and how illness is so often a shared experience. Being written and published some years on from the incident, however, I felt it would have benefitted from a little more reflection on her subsequent recovery, both physical and mental.
Still, this is a striking read that highlights a little-known medical condition, while showcasing the unique strengths of the graphic novel form.
This is one of those reads that’s tricky to quantify my feelings for. In a nutshell: I liked it, but I wanted to love it; and I think it’s a good book, but it had all the component parts of a great one.
This is a gentle and ruminative look at how much our mood/mental health can be affected by the changing seasons. The text itself is relatively simple, though it does have an air of prose poetry to it. So while it may not discuss any particularly unique experiences or offer up any ground-breaking insights, it is likely to resonate widely.
I’ve been an admirer of Giordano’s work ever since I took up embroidery myself. Specialising in characterful, hyper-realistic woodland animals, her pieces are brought to life in her own distinct style of thread painting. In this book, she breaks down her creative process – in general terms, and on a piece-by-piece basis. It’s definitely easy to draw inspiration from her work, and though most of us will never come close to her standard, it is a joy to pore over such high-quality reproductions of her designs – the book itself having been produced to a wonderful standard.
In this collection of poems, Hosein tackles numerous big topics, including abusive relationships, the painful loss of her mother, the emotional strain of trauma, and the racism she faces as a POC living in Canada. All are approached with honesty and verve, employing simple yet effective imagery to hit home her themes:
Following the huge success of their previous collaboration, The Lost Words, poet Robert Macfarlane and artist Jackie Morris have created another ode to the beauty of the natural world, and the importance of preserving the language we use to describe it.
If Morris’s collaborations with Macfarlane hint ever so subtly at something magical, here she leans fully into it. A series of vignettes crafted in text and watercolour, The Unwinding is best described less as a short story collection, and more as a series of dreams rendered on paper. You shouldn’t expect a rounded narrative arc or in-depth development, but you certainly can expect stunning artwork that evokes enchanting worlds, enigmatic characters, and an ethereal atmosphere. This elusive beauty is perfect for stimulating the imagination.
Like any collection of poetry, there were themes, styles, and individual poems in this that impacted me more than others, but on the whole, it’s another impressive selection that proves Brown’s ability to pack a punch.
Mackesy’s artwork is incredibly charming, and the sentiment throughout this book is lovely. There’s no story; it’s simply a series of random, fleeting vignettes about a lonely, sensitive young boy who befriends some animals, the ragtag group wandering the landscape and sharing musings on life.
This short from Tor Books is about a mission to make contact – and attempt to draw up a peace treaty – with the first newly discovered alien race. It has many hallmarks of classic sci-fi, and is a quick, engaging read, but it’s the subtext that helps this one stand out – even if it does become a little heavy-handed by the end. Essentially, the story is a riff on the idea of what constitutes power, and where, as a society, we place credence. Chiefly, Older asks the reader to consider why we feel compelled to supress pain.
This graphic memoir of Frida Kahlo offers a particularly insightful look into life with chronic pain, and the transformative power of art. It’s very interestingly structured, both in its forgoing of traditional panels in favour of a freeform layout, and in its narrative framing, with the book presented as though a first-person discussion between Kahlo and Death. Having suffered many losses throughout her life, and flirted dangerously close to death many times herself, this has effective thematic resonance.
Reading a collection of Duffy’s poetry is an odd experience, in that her work often oscillates between the clumsily blatant and the impenetrably obscure. When she strikes the sweet spot between the two, there’s no denying her ability to pack a punch with a limited word count. The highlights here were the poems that explored the loss of her mother, particularly the pieces, ‘Water’ and ‘Cold’.
This encyclopaedia of gods, monsters, and mortals from Ancient Greece serves as a fantastic entry point or reference guide for those at all interested in mythology. The book highlights 50 key figures, and though the text for each character isn’t exactly exhaustive, we’re given a condensed snapshot of their role within the canon, and a few interesting facts about them. Seasoned myth enthusiasts are unlikely to learn anything new, as such, but having been written by a Classics scholar and Greek mythology expert, the information is succinct and reliable.
Callum McLaughlin 