Early Book Review: Dotter of Her Father's Eyes

Dotter of Her Father's Eyes by Mary Talbot and Brian Talbot is a graphic novel that is part personal memoir of Mary Talbot, the daughter of a renowned Joycean scholar, and part biography of Lucia, James Joyce's daughter. The two personal histories are interwoven and well told. The two coming of age takes share some heart wrenching similarities as well as sharp contrasts fueled by time period and social expectations. The book is slated for release on Feb. 8, 2012.

Dotter of Her Father's Eyes details the pressures and young lives of Mary Talbot and Lucia Joyce. While the particulars their situations, particularly in regards to social status and personal ambitions, are different they each suffer from relationships with their parents that were far from perfect. The details of Lucia's life are intriguing and she is a very sympathetic personality even in her worst moments. Mary shares her own personal hardships, making it clear that there were moments of joy and happiness in with those hardships. The differences between Lucia's and Mary's sections of the book are clearly noted by changes in the colorization used by Brian Talbot in his artwork. The collaboration between Mary and Brian results in a graphic novel that is rich with intelligence, humor, and intense emotion. Even readers that know about Lucia prior to reading this will find themselves rooting for both Lucia and Mary while Lucia's story could have a different ending.

I enjoy well done graphic novels, coming of age stories and learning more about real history. Dotter of Her Father's Eyes combined all three of these things in one volume. I was caught up in the emotional stories of two young women that I could empathize with, and often felt anger on their behalf as I read. The artwork captured the emotion and details of their lives making everything that much more poignant and real as the story unfolds. I highly recommend this book to those interested in the continuing evolution in the graphic novel genre, those that enjoy learning about literary related history, and coming of age stories. If you like one of these genres, but generally avoid the others, I still suggest giving Dotter of Her Father's Eyes a look. While it is labeled as an adult book, young adults could easy find themselves as enthralled as adults reading this touching, personal graphic novel.