In the second installment of the Essex County trilogy, Lemire has hit his stride. The storytelling is worlds beyond the first (Tales From The Farm), and the illustrations – which have the appearance of wood engravings – are as powerful as any number of masterpieces from ages past.
Compared to Tales, Stories is a darker, more honest portrayal of home life, with devastating perspective spewed forth as the main character (Lou Lebeuf) goes from hero to zero – or at least he becomes mortal.
There is passion, betrayal and regret (try “She only knew me through letters and phone calls those last years. I was so wrapped up in myself…in what I’d lost” on for size). While Lou holds a bottle for comfort, his equally lonely brother Vince holds his wife and daughter. And for the skeptics who think graphic novels are kids’ stuff, think again. If I’d not been reading this 223-page book in a waiting room, I wouldn’t have been able to hold back the tears.
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