A very well crafted graphic novel, about a woman and her granddaughter travelling from Israel to Poland to investigate the woman's claim to a property there. The story, naturally, delves into the past of the woman, revealing secrets and surprises. It's touching, funny and feels very believable - it's kinda got the feel of a quality indie film. The characterisations were particularly well done, I thought - well rounded and believable.

While I really like Modan's art generally, I sometimes find her colours a little muddy, and in the night scenes a bit over-saturated. Maybe it's just me.

It's not a life-changing book, and on a grumpier day my 4.5* would get rounded down, not up. But the story is of a quality that is not as common in comics as it should be, and has has a general excellence of execution, that it deserves the benefit of the doubt. ( )

Prima. ( )

Israeli drama. It involves love, mystery, and a tinge of dark humor (much like "Exit Wounds"). This is a lot more ambitious than Rutu Modan's previous work, but, much like "Exit Wounds," I feel like I'm too stupid for this. There's some thematic message about love, death, and money that I just CAN'T connect. God, I wish I could. Definitely a good book to read again!

With family, you don't have to tell the whole truth and it's not considered lying.
-Michaela Modan, epigraph

Mica accompanies her grandmother to Warsaw from Israel, purportedly to recover a family apartment that was confiscated during the Holocaust. Once there, however, Mica begins to suspect that her grandmother has a different motive for the trip. The Property features strong women, humor with a touch of sarcasm, and understated motifs that are more powerful for the lack of heavy-handedness.

The illustrations in this graphic novel are at times blocky and at times finely detailed, with wonderful expressiveness. The colors are muted with lots of maroon, black, and mustard. The text is translated into block letters for Hebrew, italics for Polish, and mixed case for English. When Mica doesn't understand what people are saying, the text is just squiggles. The artwork complements the story well. ( )

A couple of months after her father’s death, Mica accompanies her grandmother, Regina, to Warsaw to recover the property her great-grandparents owned before the Holocaust. This is Regina’s first visit to Warsaw since she emigrated to Israel as a young woman before the war. Once they arrive in Warsaw, Regina doesn’t seem to want to accompany Mica anywhere or to do anything about the lost property. Mica is attracted to a tour guide she meets on the first day of their visit, and Regina reconnects with someone from her past. And why is the cantor from her father’s funeral following Mica everywhere after they ran into him on the plane? This lovely graphic novel explores relationships, loss, and memory. Despite the underlying sadness and loss, the novel ends on a hopeful note as both Mica and Regina seem to have found what they sought from their journey. ( )