05 Feb / Shadow Life by Hiromi Goto, illustrated by Ann Xu [in Booklist]
*STARRED REVIEW
Commonwealth Writers’ Prize-winning Canadian Japanese novelist/poet Hiromi Goto (Half World, 2010) makes her stupendous graphic debut, in splendid artistic synchronization with Ignatz-nominated Ann Xu.
“It never felt right here,” Kumiko thinks as she sneaks out of an assisted-living facility her daughters thought would be the best option for their septuagenarian, widowed mother. She’s winnowed her life down to a single bundle – “but do the necessary things have to be so heavy?” – as she leaves everything else behind … except the shadow of death, which follows her out.
Kumiko moves into a tiny studio and spends her days exactly as she pleases: swimming at the local community center, navigating the city buses, making friends (sometimes reluctantly) with neighbors, ignoring her increasingly worried daughters. When death attacks her, she insists “I’m not ready YET!” and impressively eludes the shadow. She survives for now, but forgetting, falling, and losing her way makes her realize, “Maybe I was too rash cutting off all my old friends,” providing the impetus to pursue some important reconnections.
Sprinkled with fabulism (a vacuum and salt can stop death), confronting racist history (Canada’s WWII prison camps for Japanese Canadians), and questioning institutionalized eldercare, Goto’s latest is an empowering, emotional tribute to defiant, independent, kick-ass old women living their best lives.
Review: “Graphic Novels,” Booklist, February 1, 2021
Readers: Adult
Published: 2021