by Carol Tyler
First published 2025
Carol Tyler channels her own bereavement into this allegorical graphic memoir after emerging from ten years of grief. The acclaimed comics artist uses her pen to confront loss and extract meaning from what she calls the oddly sacred experience of mourning. Tyler explores metaphorical realms alongside stark reality, charting emotional territory that proves both painfully personal and philosophically rich. Her artistic technique reaches new heights with fine, dense brush lines enhanced by selective color washes and highlights. She combines art and text through traditional panel grids, illustration with words, and organic imagery surrounded by floating text. These varied approaches capture the inner voice of someone wrestling with questions that matter deeply. Tyler excavates scenes from her own history, showing how grief becomes woven into our lives and relationships. The book demonstrates how struggling with loss connects all humans while requiring a true artist to transform that struggle into something compassionate and beautiful.
Genres: art, literary-fiction, graphic-novels, contemporary, memoir, biography-memoir
Vibes: intimate, introspective, lyrical, meditative, poignant, thought-provoking
Tropes: coming-to-terms, self-discovery, transformation-through-art
232 pages · Hardcover · Fantagraphics
Content warnings: death