Alison Bechdel brings her childhood back to life in this graphic novel which serves as a follow-up to her earlier work, Fun Home. Fun Home focused on the relationship between Alison and her father. In her current work, she focuses on the relationship with her mother, or specifically her feelings about her relationship with her mother. We follow Alison while she goes through years of psychoanalytical therapy to heal from her interesting childhood.
What I find so interesting about this work is that its completely personal to Alison, however, it remains interesting to the reader (or at least to this reader). I do wonder if this would translate well to a text only book. The comic portion give such life to the story, that I doubt it would work in a different medium.
I think this a great read for those that enjoy reading about psychology and maybe those who have some issues with mom (I would fall into both categories).
Favorite quotes:
Donald Winnicott quote, "So the man that falls in love with beauty is quite different from the man who loves a girl and feels she is beautiful and can see what is beautiful about her."
Dorothy Gallagher quote, "The writer's business is to find the shape in unruly life and to serve her story. Not, you may note, to serve her family, or to serve the truth, but to serve the story."
