Honoria: A Fortuitous Friendship

A beachside villa in the South of France provides the backdrop for this poignant graphic novel debut from short story writer Shapiro (Bummer and Other Stories). In 1929, nine-year-old Ida stays with family friends while her parents end their tense marriage. Her goodhearted summer caretakers, Gerald and Sara Murphy, cultivate a “perfect invented world” where “everyone had to act their part.” This includes guests like Ernest Hemingway, Pablo Picasso, Cole Porter, and, centrally, F. Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald. Only the Murphys’ 11-year-old daughter, Honoria, shuns the facade of happiness, openly mourning her brother Baoth, who died of spinal meningitis, and treating Ida as a shabby substitute, even as she commits to refashion Ida as “more palatable and worldly.” Ida adores Honoria as much as Honoria adores Scott and Zelda, who are depicted here as troubled, charismatic truth-tellers. Together, Honoria and Ida study Judaism—Ida’s family is nonreligious, and Honoria is shopping for a new faith after her Christian God took Baoth—which contributes to the bond they gradually build. It also sets the stage for a fantastic climax, when Honoria dumps a pitcher of drinks on Ezra Pound after he makes antisemtic remarks. With simple but expressive figures, which whimsically recall schoolgirl drawings, Shapiro builds a world of complicated characters whose attempts to be dazzling mask their grief. It’s a witty and wonderful story of friendship in all its forms. (Apr.)