Notes:'Alison' tells the story of a young woman born into a quiet life in Dorset at the end of the 1950s, who escapes in her twenties to the thrumming art scene of London at the end of the 1970s. But the vehicle for her escape is an older man whose reputation as an artist and philanderer casts a shadow which will follow Alison for years. A complex love and coming of age story, it is also a meditation on female friendship and empowerment, on art, patriarchy and class. With her combina- tion of immaculate prose and stunning artwork, Lizzy Stewart immerses the reader in the precise milieu of bohemian London in the late 20th century, while at the same time conjuring a story that has resonance for all women's lives.
232 pages : chiefly illustrations (black and white, and colour) ; 23 cm
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There's more text here than you might expect to see in a Graphic Novel. Through the text and illustrations we get Alison's life story recounted in her early 60s. The drawings are simple, the splashes of colour in the illustrations quite beautiful. In fact the whole book is beautifully put together, and a joy to look at as well as to read. There is nothing very extraordinary about Alison's life; a simple tale, but told in a very convincing way. Alison, divorcée, artist's model and lover, artist, loyal friend and loving aunt is such a believable and likeable character. Recommended.