Étienne Davodeau

Lulu Anew by Etienne Davodeau might seem to have a talk show-type storyline: a married mother leaves her husband and three kids behind to have adventures and find herself. But it's not, and the way the story is delivered is unlike any I've seen. Lulu is middle-aged and not a beauty (except inside). When she has eye-opening sex, her kindred spirit counterpart is no George Clooney. Who she meets along the way, what happens, and how she handles where she ends up, are all unexpected. I'll be show more looking for more by this author. show less

The book was going along fine in its low-key way until an unlikely secret society was introduced at the midway point. I liked the glimpse inside the Louvre and some of the family humor, but the protagonist has no arc of development and rarely does anything active in the story.

I picked up this graphic novel after a couple of friends had recommended it.

Lulu is looking for a job after 15 years of raising her kids. After yet another failed interview, she decides to not go home quite yet. This leads to her leaving town, meeting a man, having some interesting experiences both good and bad.

What I loved about the book is the way it's told. Lulu's kids and friends are gathered and take turns telling what they know about what happened to Lulu and where she's been. It show more begins near the end of the story but quickly becomes a series of flashbacks about what has happened.

This leads to a bit of mystery about how this will all wrap up and some tense moments near the end regarding Lulu's ultimate fate.

The artwork is lovely. Mostly soft blues and oranges. Some panels have rapid-fire dialog and other pages have just images that convey parts of Lulu's story.

There were definitely some decisions Lulu made that I didn't agree with but haven't we all wanted to just run away at some point? show less

I liked Davodeau's earlier graphic novel (Lulu Anew) and a friend had said this one was good too. It's completely different. Rather than a fictional story this is nonfiction but still in graphic novel format.

Davodeau spent a year learning about making wine from a winemaker while at the same time the winemaker learned about comics and graphic novels from Davodeau.

This book is both beautiful and interesting. The artwork is black and white drawings but many are beautiful landscapes of show more vineyards and countryside even without additional colors added to the pages. There are also many lively panels depicting the conversations Davodeau and his friend had with other winemakers as well as comic artists and people in the publishing industry.

I learned a lot about both professions and enjoyed the time these two men spent together. Even though the two men have very different careers and passions they managed to highlight the similarities.

This is a fascinating book. I highly recommend it. show less