Persephone's Garden

by Glynnis Fawkes

Persephone’s Garden is a deeply personal story and inventive study of girlhood, womanhood and motherhood, through memory, history and mythology. A children’s song inspires a love of Greek mythology in a young girl. A young woman finds a career in archeology and illustration. A young mother sees her daughter become a woman, as her own mother’s memories are lost.

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

272 pages, Paperback

Published October 1, 2019

About the author

Glynnis Fawkes is the co-author with Eric H Cline and illustrator of 1177 BC: A Graphic History of the Year Civilization Collapsed (Princeton University Press). She is also the author-illustrator of Charlotte Brontë before Jane Eyre (Little, Brown) and Persephone’s Garden (Secret Acres), among other books, and her comics have appeared on the website of The New Yorker. She has worked as an archaeological illustrator around the Aegean and Eastern Mediterranean, and teaches at the Center for Cartoon Studies in Vermont.

Reviews

[Dave Schaafsma · Rating 3 out of 5]

A book that begins like a memoir, framed by her interest in mythology, tracing her life as a girl to her interest in drawing to becoming an archaeological illustrator, but really, most of it later is motherhood diary comics, this later part framed (for me, at least) by her kids' resistance to having their lives shared in public ("Stop the humiliation!"). But as you may know, this is what memoirists and diray comics artists and authors do, they tell what they tell, maybe or maybe not taking into consideration how the subjects of the artist feel). The focus of this second half of the book is really about their five weeks traveling in Greece, losing the mythology, mostly, going more for the jokes, which I admit are sometimes amusing. The art styles differ throughout, so it feels like a cleaned-up artist's diary, sometimes quick sketches, sometimes more elaborate.

I like parenting comics. I Like diary comics. I like Keilor Roberts' work a lot. I like this just fine but I thought we were set up to read about the life of an archaeological illustrator; she does say in a footnote that we can expect that book, too, which I would look forward to. But this is good, inviting, not as revelatory as I expected from the first third of the book.

[Rod Brown · Rating 3 out of 5]

A grab bag of short strips published in various places over the last decade. The more interesting bits involve Fawkes making archeological illustrations of pottery on the site of ancient Troy and coping with her mother's Alzheimer's. And there is a very funny story of Charlotte Brontë attending a modern day yoga class. (I did not realize until the end of the book that Fawkes also created the enjoyable Charlotte Brontë Before Jane Eyre which I read just a few months ago. I should have recognized the art style . . . )

Unfortunately, between the good bits are a lot of boring sketchbook pages, mundane travel diaries, and way, way too many "kids say the darndest things" gags featuring her son and daughter, who come off more bratty than cute. The kid strips also bring up a privacy issue as the author explicitly states in the introduction that her children have asked her to stop posting them but that she intends to continue to do so despite their expressed humiliation. It reminded me of this article:
https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/...

By the way, if you are intrigued by the tapestries of the mother, Judith Poxson Fawkes, here's a page with eight of them in full color:
https://www.russoleegallery.com/artis...

Some of the author's father's work can be found here:
https://www.russoleegallery.com/exhib...

Bottom line, an uneven work by an interesting talent. I'll certainly seek out more by her in the future.

[book rat · Rating 5 out of 5]

This took me completely by surprise. I picked it up at random off the arc shelf at work and was drawn in at once. I'm a sucker for all things Greek, I suppose.

This book gets so deep into the minutiae of daily life that you can almost miss the really profound moments and observations. The art is beautiful, the writing straight forward, often funny, and very moving. Treasure this one, it's lovely

[Sarah C. · Rating 4 out of 5]

A beautiful mediation on metabolizing the brevity of things through the preciousness of what outlives us - tapestry, paintings, photographs, illustrations, etc. Little glimpse after little glimpse, this graphic novel is a beautiful ode to all the little stuff that compounds and builds to make a life. This was an enjoyable read :,)

[Jesús · Rating 3 out of 5]

A collection of diary comics from an archaeological illustrator. In line with cartoonists like Keiler Roberts, Glynnis Fawkes captures the day-in-day-out conversations with her young children, their vacations to Greece and Cyprus, as well as a few other events and occasions.

A few of these comics are excellent (especially when her interest in archaeology overlaps with her family life), but most are straightforward “kids say the darnedest things” moments captured in comic form.

[Kathryn Hemmann · Rating 1 out of 5]

Around 2/5 of the short comics in this collection are about the artist's travels, and the rest are about her experience of motherhood, specifically her relationship with her daughter. Fawkes consistently portrays her daughter as being catty, bratty, ignorant, and mean. A handful of comics like this might be charming, but 150 pages of them are difficult to read, especially considering that her daughter is a real person - and that the artist never has anything critical to say about her son.

[Robert · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is Glynnis' best, most fully realized book to date. It presents a full, encompassing view of life, with all its joys and sorrows. So good.

[Liquidwitch · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was really lovely.

I picked it up in a charity shop last autumn because I liked the art style when I flicked through, and because I'd just seen a short film inspired my Demeter and Persephone and it felt like a weird fate thing. I don't think I properly understood it was going to be a collection of autobiographical family sketches, but I liked it a lot. The art's really beautiful, her kids are depicted with honestly and fondness, I learned some stuff about archeological sketches and the longer, more detailed comics really bring the themes into focus, I had a little cry at the end.

The comic about Charlotte Bronte going to a yoga class was an unexpected extra 😆 Not quite a five star for me just because it was quite a drifty experience to read, especially in the parts which aren't about her family, so it didn't really bring out emotions other than pleasant interest until quite far into the collection.

[Skel · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this book to be meditative- touching on memory, art, motherhood and being mothered. It was nicely balanced between diary style comics and more complete stories.

[Ilya Scheidwasser · Rating 2 out of 5]

A graphic memoir about the author's work as a professional illustrator of historical artifacts and her experiences parenting two young children, the book takes the form of brief vignettes, stories taking up one to four pages or so, within larger narratives like family trips. It is capped by a longer discussion of her mother's Alzheimer's disorder.

Although a parent myself, I haven't yet found any overt narratives about parenting that have really resonated with me. The most compelling material about the parent-child relationship to me tends to be more metaphorical or grotesque, like Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, David Lynch's Eraserhead, Jennette McCurdy's I'm Glad My Mom Died. The parenting stories in this book are relatable but not particularly deep or remarkable. This may in part be due to the bite-sized and light anecdotes, but in part is also due to the book's generally sketchy and inconsistent nature.

From page to page, the quality of the book's art and lettering varies greatly. Some parts, especially the final section about the author's mother, are very professionally laid out and pleasant to read. But a large chunk of the middle of the book is extremely rough, feeling more like a draft than a complete work ready for publication. The art is skillful, but crude: minimalist outlines of characters with no detail and little to no background. The writing looks hastily scrawled, sometimes so rough or small that it borders on illegibility. There is no obvious reason for the differences in presentation between different sections of the book, and the rougher sections of the book are not enjoyable reads.

There is something here in this book, but it is hiding somewhere, not fully realized. With more polish and more thought about what the book presents and when, it could be a much better read; as it is, I wouldn't recommend it.

[Judith · Rating 4 out of 5]

Persephone’s Garden is a delightful graphic memoir by cartoonist and archeological illustrator Glynnis Fawkes. Bringing together cartoons and other drawings, she illustrates her life, growing up the child of two artists, her fascination with Greek mythology, her work, her children, traveling, her elderly mother, whose dementia makes them strangers with little to share except the mother’s beloved garden. She takes her cartoon version of Charlotte Bronte to yoga with her, delights in a return to Cyprus after many years, the light, the beaches.

[Jacquelyne Hernandez · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 rounded up. I liked the beginning and the ending, though there were some interesting stories in the "Winter" section of the book. Overall, the story felt disjointed and like the organization of the book was less than an afterthought. I think it would have been a better reading experience if it had organized the comics a little differently. I would say that it is comparative to reading literary essays.
This novel also highlights the author's different styles and the talent and precision exhibited even in the smallest details of the landscapes are really phenomenal.

[Lissa Fulton · Rating 2 out of 5]

If you are not an especially sentimental person, this book will do a terrible job of keeping you interested.

That said, it was a very sweet look into the author's day-to-day interactions with her children, husband, and work-life. I loved the pages dedicated to her mother. It was like reading someone's diary in graphic novel form, which was fascinating, but also a little too much like navel-gazing at someone else's navel.

[Katherine · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was good! Illustrated glimpses of the authors life and family, usually 4 panels per page. She covers motherhood (she has 2 kids), having a mother (with Alzheimer’s), Greece, career, travel. I loved the pages where Glynnis Fawkes draws the shorts and shirts that her daughter refuses to wear and the reasons why. I liked reading these parts of someone else’s life that are just real and unique and sometimes boring and sometimes profound.

[Caroline · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautifully written and drawn cartoon diary, covering her life as an archaeological illustrator (who even knew there was such a job?) to more mundane aspects of motherhood life. I particularly loved the sections about her mom, an artist herself, disappearing into Alzheimer’s. It’s candid, sometimes very funny, poignant. Really nicely done.

[Courtney · Rating 5 out of 5]

This made me happy. I loved the introductory metaphor of how she/one is at first Persephone and then Demeter; a certain kind of loss and experience of life. I also loved the meta aspect: drawings about drawings; visual art about visual art. I greatly enjoyed the technical and whimsical aspects of her profession. I thought that the places she lived and visited were interesting.

Additionally, I love graphic memoirs in general. I found her to be endearing, a keen observer of life, a fun mom, a working creative, a loving daughter, and an overall great artist.

[abby · Rating 2 out of 5]

the book was nice but seemed self indulgent more than anything, and, because it is, read like a diary but one without much actually interesting or reflexive.

the art was pretty, particularly the travel scenes, and the vignettes with the daughter and mother of protagonist were the most compelling.

[Juli Anna · Rating 2 out of 5]

This felt scattered and sloppy to me. Some of the comics were memorable, but the overwhelming majority were about the parts of parenthood that make childless people like me glad that they are childless.

[Eli Poteet · Rating 3 out of 5]

this was an unexpected memoir that left me feeling a lot of relevant uncomfortable feelings. the authors moms mortality and memory hits a little too close to home for me to enjoy. i loved going to museums with my mom, my best friend growing up.

[Tedi Patel Hotchkiss · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved these collections of moments- the illustrations were beautiful and the ending made me quite tearful. It was extra special to see my city Portland be portrayed and so wonderfully brought to life.

[✨lee✨ · Rating 2 out of 5]

this was so boring i stopped at like 20 pages. and this year i'm trying to not "wait it out" as much and just quit if i don't like the book. so there you go, this book was boring and a victim of my new year's resolution.

[Nina · Rating 2 out of 5]

Uninteresting. I didn't like the illustrations & the handwriting was sloppy. Her kids were whiny & annoying.

[Lottie · Rating 5 out of 5]

A lot of love in this book. Beware- it will make you want to document your life in the most beautiful way

[etta · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such a sweet and funny compilation of comics :)

[Kieran Westphal · Rating 4 out of 5]

makes the quiet of life spectacular, and makes me cry thinking about my mother and her mother. there is nothing scarier in this world than losing memory.

[Francesca · Rating 3 out of 5]

A well-done story. I personally didn't get a lot out of it but it was nice.

[meri · Rating 5 out of 5]

Kiva sarjakuvateos. Loppupuolisko äideistä, aikakausien päättymisistä ja uusien alkamisista, lapsuuden liukumista pois valtavan hyvä

[Dee · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was more parenting comics than anything else. It was just so-so.

[Angela · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thoughtful reflections on being an artist, a parent, and having aging parents. Sometimes mundane and sometimes deeply considered.

[s.e · Rating 4 out of 5]

Memoir comics warning; they make you unhappy and your family can never talk to you again.
I should go to Greece.