Yvan Alagbé’s ghostly, disquieting graphic novel ‘Misery of Love’

“Alagbé shrouds his murky ink wash art in purposeful obscurity, with spectral human forms blurring into near-abstract compositions, like Gerhard Richter photo-paintings by way of Hugo Pratt.... [Misery of Love is] a stunning graphic novel counterpart to the obsessive fever dreams of Marguerite Duras and Claire Denis.” —Publishers Weekly, starred review MISERY OF LOVE Yvan Alagbé Translated from the French by Donald Nicholson-Smith In Misery of Love, a spiritual sequel to the acclaimed Yellow Negroes and Other Imaginary Creatures, Yvan Alagbé continues his unflinching interrogation of race and family in modern France. The book focuses on the dream-like memories of a woman named Clare, who is reluctantly spending time with her relatives for a funeral. Alagbé seamlessly glides between narratives of the family’s past and present, all haunted by the legacy of France’s colonial subjugation of Africa. Alagbé works in stormy grayscale washes, using comics, as he puts it, as “a sacred dimension which celebrates, questions and perpetuates life.... I believe that life is not damnation but grace.”  Told through time shifts that echo Richard McGuire’s Here, Misery of Love is another ambitious, devastating masterpiece from one of France’s best contemporary graphic novelists. BUY THE BOOK   For three days only, Misery of Love is available at 25% off along with its predecessor, Yellow Negroes and Other Imaginary Creatures: YELLOW NEGROES AND OTHER IMAGINARY CREATURES Yvan Alagbé BUY THE BOOK You are receiving this message because you signed up for email newsletters from NYRB. You can choose the types of mailings you wish to receive: Update preferences   New York Review Books 207 East 32nd Street New York, NY 10016-6305 Not a subscriber? Sign up for our newsletter here. Unsubscribe