Tom Hart

3.5 Still getting used to the graphic novel format and here, unlike others wish I could've read more of a memoir. This personal account shares the author and his wife, Leela's descent into grief and slow healing after the sudden death of their toddler (almost 3) Rosalie. The art is very expressive and Hart is frank about the couple's pain and their difficulty dealing with the loss. "What do you do when your child dies? You fall into a hole." There were other extreme stressors in their life show more at the time too -- trying to sell a NY apartment and a book that Leela was working on, relocating to Gainesville, FL and crashing with friends as they waited to find housing until the sale was final....This is a beautiful testimony to the time they did have with Rosalie and the way art and music and spirituality pulled them through a year from hell. Hart is an excellent artist and very astute about influences and ideas that make their way into his drawings. "An image is what you imbue it with" he states (214) and this graphic memoir is imbued with parental love and longing. show less

Tom Hart, author of Hutch Owen, details the sudden unexplained death of his toddler and the long and difficult road he and his wife faced in coming to terms with Rosalie's death, or at least, in being able to proceed forward with their own lives. His grief lives right alongside his memories of the perfect joy that comes from parenting a loving, happy, beautiful and precocious child. This book is best summed up by the singer-songwriter John Darnielle of The Mountain Goats, who calls this book show more "the bravest act of writing and bearing witness I expect to see in my lifetime." show less

In many ways Rosalie Lightning is a powerful graphic memoir, but in as many ways it lacks the cohesion and beauty necessary to create a universally moving portrayal of loss. Clearly, this is an extremely personal work, so I'm hesitant to speak ill of it. Nor should I speak ill, as my only complaint about the book is a matter of perspective and all my other feelings toward the book are either positive or neutral. There are images in this memoir that I doubt will ever leave me (certainly, I show more will never look at a Corn Maze the same); Hart has done a fantastic job isolating some of Rosalie's most striking moments and making them light up on the page. It's the jumble of the story that I think keeps the reader at a distance. These are the thoughts of a grieving parent who is remembering the most warming and sorrowful moments of his daughter's life. It's an important work for him and his family. It's a beautiful tribute to a little girl. But it's perhaps a little too close to the loss to give the wider audience a proper perspective. This is a memoir of what happens on the inside of a person suffering loss. That's not a bad thing, by any means, but in a book such as this, I would guess that the hope is that the reader feels a strong attachment to the child, not so much to the dark turmoil of the author. show less

Tom Hart's story of his 2 year old daughter Rosalie's death is memorialized in his graphic novel Rosalie Lightning. He talks about the things that she loved, her favorite sayings and activities. He also goes into great detail describing the grieving process he and his wife shared after her unexpected death just days before her second birthday. All of his best memories became nightmares after she was gone. He continually asks the question " what do you do after your child dies?"

This is a show more sorrowful book. Anyone who has suffered a loss will appreciate this book. show less