Bryan Talbot

Although the graphic novel format of ‘The Red Virgin’ looked lovely, it really whetted my appetite for a more in-depth biography of Louise Michel. [b:The Women Incendiaries|701743|The Women Incendiaries|Edith Thomas|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1354902967s/701743.jpg|688043] (which I recommend very highly) included a fair bit about her role in the Paris Commune, but not much about her subsequent life. Whereas, somewhat to my surprise, I found this book situated the fall of the Commune on page 66, so that plenty of time was also given to Michel’s life in exile and return to Europe. The art was distinctive and vivid, in part because the only colour used was red and that sparingly. I found the pages depicting Michel's funeral especially moving. I liked the inclusion of Charlotte Perkins Gilman, the feminist pioneer known for [b:The Yellow Wallpaper and Other Stories|99300|The Yellow Wallpaper and Other Stories|Charlotte Perkins Gilman|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1327909237s/99300.jpg|1467808]. (I also appreciated that Perkins Gilman’s racism was not glossed over.) The discussions of utopian literature were great, although I would have liked more focus on the debates about practical policy that took place during the brief existence of the Commune. There wasn’t much of a sense of continuity between the Commune as an attempt at utopian government and subsequent utopian writing. Perhaps this was deliberate?

The annotations at the end included some fascinating facts and references. While I’d known that Victor Hugo spoke up in defence of the Communards, and Louise Michel specifically, during their trials, I hadn’t realised the two were correspondents. Better still, Michel apparently signed her letters to Hugo as Enjolras, angelic leader of the barricade uprising in [b:Les Misérables|24280|Les Misérables|Victor Hugo|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1411852091s/24280.jpg|3208463]! I also learned that she treated her sentence of transportation as an opportunity for a scientific expedition, which is deeply impressive. Whilst in New Caledonia, she tried to defend and support the native people, then continued to agitate once the Communards were pardoned and she was allowed home. In short, Louise Michel is an incredibly inspiring historical figure and I really enjoyed this beautifully presented account of her life and work.… (more)

A truly remarkable and beautiful book about a remarkable and beautiful soul.

I have become a bit obsessed with Leonara Carrington since reading The Hearing Trumpet and falling in love with her art and writing, and this absolutely blew me away.

I don't know enough about her life to know how true an account of her life this is, but it makes sense with the things I have come across.

Her life truly was a magical, brutal, heartbreaking gauntlet and this graphic novel captures it and her art spectacularly!

I absolutely hated The Last Days of New Paris for using Surrealism without engaging with or understanding it. In contrast, while the narrative is a rather traditional biography, the use of Carrington and others Surrealist Imagery and style to. convey emotion and the strangeness of her life is pretty much perfect!

Genuinely made me incredibly happy and absolutely made me cry. Wonderful stuff!… (more)

Everso slightly underwhelmed. I liked the style of the book, and Talbot's art is, as ever, frequently beautiful (though I'm less keen on his more cartoony, flat-colour style, than the softer, textured art that thankfully dominates the book). I also enjoyed the little notes from Mary Talbot, where Bryan's art differed from her memories. They made the book feel more of a living document. Unfortunately those tailed off later in the book, presumably because Mary and Bryan improved their communication.

The story interleaves Mary's life and her memories of her father, a James Joyce scholar, and that of Joyce's own daughter Lucia. Both threads were okay, but neither were strong enough as written to carry the book on their own. And neither particularly added anything to the other. So they just ended up propping each other up. Also Lucia's story comes to dominate the book, which is reasonable, but leaves the book feeling a little lopsided. Unfortunately it felt like two disjunct sequences of events, rather than a well-crafted narrative.

Part of the problem is that this feels like an ambitious book, but the execution didn't live up to my expectation. I normally don't mind when a book over-reaches, and can't quite pull things together. Unfortunately, in this case I felt that it under-reached.
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