When David Lost His Voice

There is something quite powerful about a nearly 300-page graphic novel that can tell a tale of grief and loss with such economy of narrative. When David’s doctor and friend, Georg, informs him that he has stage-three cancer of the larynx, David’s first thought is of his nine-year old daughter, Tamar. How will she cope with the chemo and radiotherapy he must endure? How can she face the prospect of life without her father? In fact, all of the people in David’s life, including his second wife, Paula, and his elder daughter, Miriam, have to figure out how to deal with the inevitability and finality of what they’re confronted with. What is so touching about the narrative is how Vanistendael manages to show the different ways that people struggle loss while giving us profound insight into how deeply her characters care for one another. Of special fascination is how Tamar copes—and here the author shows a keen understanding of the mind of a child confronting the incomprehensible. Vanistendael’s illustrations are gorgeous, dynamic, and deeply emotive, with a hint of sentimentality. Anyone who has had to deal with the kind of loss explored here will be deeply moved by this story. (Mar.)