Jeff Lemire Top Shelf ISBN 978-1603090469 Buy at Amazon File Under: Graphic Novel, Hockey
I will cut to the chase, you can read this whole column or do yourself a favor and buy Essex County. This is a fantastic graphic novel that combines three graphic novels written by Jeff Lemire. The stories follow folks from rural Canada and interweaves broken hearts, family and hockey throughout their lives.
A good graphic novel uses the graphics and the written word together to carry the story. A great graphic novel like Essex County keeps these graphics and words to a minimum, giving you exactly what you need to move the story forward. What we are left with is a story that is very compelling.
The first book in the trilogy compiled here is "Tales From the Farm" and it tells the story of a young boy who's mother has died and is now living with an Uncle he barely knows. It is a slow developing story that will make even the most hardened heart ache a little.
The second, and to me the highlight of the trilogy "Ghost Stories" tells through flashbacks of a dying old man who is full of regret about his actions as a younger man that cost him his family. This book is so real you can even smell the hockey rinks and the farm as you are reading it.
The third and final piece of the trilogy "The Country Nurse" ties together the first two novels and is full of its own surprises as we follow a bit of a nosey, but well intentioned rural nurse throughout her day.
On their own each of the pieces of the trilogy are great stories. Combined, they are powerful, you see insight into these tragically flawed characters. You will read this book over and over.
As a bonus you get over 50 pages of extra material including a couple of stories from Essex County not available anywhere else.
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