Synopsis
Stability withers where passion blossoms in this cool-toned meditation on mid-life relationships.
A loving home and husband; two grown sons; a lakeside cabin with a picnic table where their initials are carved; and the chance encounter at a party that destabilizes it all. Elise is in her mid-fifties and is satisfied with life. But the moment she sees Dagmar, she’s entranced. What begins as eye contact transitions to harmless texting, and quickly swells into the type of lust and yearning Elise did not know her life was lacking. Both are happily married and there’s trepidation, but they can’t resist. The two arrange to meet, changing the course of Elise’s stable and consistent life forever.
Though Elise’s husband attempts to support her exploration, he also begins an affair with a much younger woman—a postgraduate student in her thirties. The cliche of it all is too much for Elise to bear. As her marriage unravels, Elise’s love for Dagmar grows stronger. But with Dagmar content to stay in her marriage, Elise is stranded, adrift, completely alone for the first time in her adult life, and searching for someone to blame—the other woman. In the blur of a breakdown, she’s left facing the reality that, after all, she started it.
From: Drawn & Quarterly
Notes on This Title
This title depicts a woman who is married to a man, but who embarks upon a relationship with a woman. It was originally published in Swedish before receiving an English language edition.
Awards
2023 Cartoonist Studio Prize for Best Print Comic - Nominee
Sophie Castille Award for Comics in Translation - Nominee
Reviews
“In jewel-toned, mixed-media illustrations, Furmark paints moody landscapes that mirror Elise’s internal churn. The result’s a complex, nuanced portrait of heartache.” (Source: Publishers Weekly)
Interviews
None.