Here’s a trio of interesting items that have come to my attention in the past day. Liz Prince’s Tomboy and Sally Heathcote: Suffragette by Mary and Bryan Talbot and Kate Charlesworth are graphic novels. Alexis Coe’s Alice + Freda Forever looks to be an illustrated novel.
Tomboy
Liz Prince
Zest Books
Growing up, Liz Prince wasn’t a girly girl, dressing in pink tutus or playing pretty princess like the other girls in her neighborhood. But she wasn’t exactly one of the guys either (as she learned when her little league baseball coach exiled her to the distant outfield). She was somewhere in between.
But with the forces of middle school, high school, parents, friendship, and romance pulling her this way and that, the middle wasn’t exactly an easy place to be.
Tomboy follows Ignatz Award-winning author and artist Liz Prince through
her early years and explores–with humor, honesty, and poignancy–what it means to “be a girl.” From staunchly refuting “girliness” and finding the perfect outfit, to finally discovering that your identity is whatever you make of it, Tomboy offers a sometimes hilarious, sometimes heartbreaking account of self-discovery.
A preview and more info can be found at the link.
Alice + Freda Forever – A Murder In Memphis
Alexis Coe
Zest Books
In 1892, America was obsessed with a teenage murderess, but it wasn’t her crime that shocked the nation – it was her motivation. Nineteen-year-old Alice Mitchell planned to pass as a man and marry seventeen-year-old Freda Ward, but when their love letters were discovered, they were forbidden to ever speak again. Desperate and isolated, Alice pilfered her father’s razor, and on a cold winter’s day, she slashed her ex-fiancée’s throat.
Alice + Freda Forever tells of this tragic love that marks a seminal point in the history of same-sex relationships in the U.S. Embellished with maps, historical documents, letters, and more, it is not to be missed.
More information and sample pages at the link.
Sally Heathcote: Suffragette
From Mary Talbot, Kate Charlesworth, and Bryan Talbot
Published by Dark Horse
One hundred years on, a graphic novel tells the story of the fight for Women’s Suffrage
Sally Heathcote: Suffragette tells the story of one woman’s involvement with the suffrage movement, from 1898 until the start of WW1. It highlights both how far women have come in this regard and how dangerous it is to take progress and the fight for gender equality for granted.
Sally is a fictional character, but her story is closely based on real events. The book is impeccably researched, rich in detail, and full of cameos by real historical figures. When we first meet Sally, she works as a maid in the home of leading suffragette, Emmeline Pankhurst; after moving to London, she becomes involves in the campaign for the vote herself. Sally Heathcote, Suffragette is centered on a working class woman: it challenges the idea that the struggle for progress and equality is imposed on the masses by the elite.
Sally Heathcote: Suffragette is a gripping inside story of the campaign for the vote. A tale of loyalty, love and courage, set against a vividly realized backdrop of Edwardian Britain, it follows the fortunes of a common housemaid swept up in the feminist militancy of the era. Sally Heathcote: Suffragette is another stunning collaboration from Costa-award winners, Mary and Bryan Talbot. Teamed up with acclaimed illustrator, Kate Charlesworth, Sally Heathcote’s lavish pages bring history to life.
“Sally’s fantastic! Apart from the rollicking story and the ‘look’, what I really relish is the accuracy. Wow.”
Elizabeth Crawford, women’s suffrage historian. Author of The Women’s Suffrage Movement: a reference guide and editor of Campaigning for the Vote: Kate Parry Frye’s Suffrage Diary
More information and a video review may be found here.
