The Book of Sarah

Graphic Medicine

by Sarah Lightman

There is no “Book of Sarah” in the Bible, so artist Sarah Lightman sets out to make her own. In this quietly subversive graphic autobiography, Lightman follows the urge to find herself in the midst of training to become an artist, observing her faith, navigating family and romantic relationships, and learning to be a mother. Drawings of a Jewish children’s Bible, a package of crackers, a Lower East Side walk-up, Columbia University, and the outside of St. Paul’s Girls’ books and streets, buildings, objects, and portraits of people fill this coming-of-age story set in northwest London and New York City. The Book of Sarah traces the author’s journey from modern Jewish orthodoxy to a feminist Judaism, as she searches between the complex layers of family and family history that she inherited and inhabited. While the act of drawing came easily to Sarah, letting go of past failures, attachments, and expectations did not. These are the focus of her astonishingly beautiful pages, as we bear witness to her making the world her own. Poignantly narrated and illustrated with charcoal, pencil, watercolor, and oil, this is an intimate story of a self-in-becoming.

Genres: Graphic Novels, Comics, Nonfiction, Memoir, Art, Graphic Novels Comics, Jewish

240 pages, Hardcover

First published May 23, 2019

About the author

Dr Sarah Lightman is a London-based artist, curator and writer. She attended Central/St Martin's and The Slade School of Art where she won The Slade Prize , The Coldstream Prize, and The Slade Life Drawing Prize. She has a PhD from University of Glasgow in women’s autobiographical comics. She has extensively published her research and her artwork has been exhibited in museums and galleries internationally.

Her first graphic novel, The Book of Sarah, will be published by Myriad in 2019.

Sarah co-curated Graphic Details: Confessional Comics by Jewish Women, an internationally touring exhibition of 18 comic artists, that opened at 9 museums over 6 years. She edited Graphic Details: Jewish Women’s Confessional Comics in Essays and Interviews (McFarland 2014), that was awarded The Susan Koppelman Prize for Best Feminist Anthology (2015) and The Will Eisner Award for Best Scholarly Publication (2015), an Association of Jewish Studies/Jordan Schnitzer Book Award for Jews and The Arts (2016).

Reviews

[Michelle · Rating 3 out of 5]

An autobiographical comic piece following Sarah Lightman’s life. However, due to the low page count, this is much of an impression of her life, rather than a factual account of it. A lot of the work is her musings accompanied by her art which are primarily pencil sketches and paintings. There's a focus on her relationships - with her parents, her partners, and her child.

While this is a beautiful book and the production value is nice, this is one of those titles that skirts the definition of “comic”. It’s barely sequential storytelling, in the traditional sense. It feels much more like a coffee table collection of art pieces with some memoir writing thrown in. I do think the art pieces speak with the text (instead of just being thrown together) but this didn’t “read” like a comic book (if that makes sense).

It was a moving memoir, though we don’t get that many details about Sarah’s life. Her writing is quite beautiful and flows nicely. I was particularly drawn to her thoughts/musings on motherhood -- my husband and I have been seriously considering trying to have kids but I have a lot of reservations, so this is a subject that’s on my mind frequently.

All in all, a nice work, but nothing mind-blowing as far as graphic memoirs go. Still, I enjoyed my time with it well enough.

[Tante Tzvia · Rating 4 out of 5]

On the back of The book of Sarah it says “Graphic Memoir/Jewish Studies”. For me the emphasis is on Graphic: this is an amazing work of art. The drawings I just find... stunning. The self-portraits in particular. The memoir part is compelling and I would have loved to read more of it. The author describes so many struggles that readers will recognise: relationships with family, mental health, love, gender roles, religion, professional ambitions, parenthood. As for the Jewish studies part: they were the reason I bought The book of Sarah. For me they make this book different from so many other beautifully illustrated graphic memoirs.

[Barbara · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very personal work without being self-absorbed, this book shares an intimate story of vulnerability and self-discovery. Not exactly comics, the work is definitely an imagetext. The words and images are additive, and the selection of the pictures, most of which look like sketches, drawings, and paintings that were not specifically done to tell a story, yet support the narrative by evoking the time and place in which they were (may have been) created, and the associated emotions.

[Savannah Paige Murray · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thoroughly enjoyed this one: the organization, pacing, and illustrations were so appealing to me. At times, it feels disorienting, too private, and I love that about it. I thought about this one for days after I first started it (and I read the first half in one sitting). If I have children, I will come back to this—I reckon it will resonate with / haunt me even more under those circumstances.

[Karah · Rating 4 out of 5]

I would have preferred fuller prose. It was obvious that she wasn't in a pleasant emotional state but I don't jump to conclusions of mental illness. Ultimately, I am thankful that Sarah achieved a greater sense of wholeness. Nagging discontent marks dissatisfaction. I am doubly relieved that she did not consider ending her life. The clarity and linearity proved satisfying.

[Matthew Noe · Rating 4 out of 5]

A beautiful work - but I have questions about it as a "comic."

[Megan Rosol · Rating 4 out of 5]

Atmospheric and beautifully drawn but, in parts, incomprehensible to me.

[Sandy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pretty art, kind of meditative. A reflective book about family, therapy, Jewish life, and being a mother.

[Ella · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lovely little graphic memoir. Wish some of the text had been slightly easier to read though.