The Return of the Honey Buzzard
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- $16.99
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- $16.99
Publisher Description
A compelling graphic novel about overcoming trauma and starting again
The doors are about to swing shut on the Antonisse Bookshop and Simon, its third‑generation owner, is facing some tough decisions. But when he witnesses a suicide, old memories intrude, guilt bubbles up and his grip on reality loosens. A chance encounter with a young student, Regina, prompts Simon to open up about the past that haunts him. But will their budding friendship last long enough for him to come to terms with the present?
Powerful, perceptive and beautifully drawn, The Return of the Honey Buzzard is a compelling graphic novel about grief, love, our actions and their consequences.
About the Author:
Aimée de Jongh is an award-winning animator, illustrator and comics artist. Having published her first comic book at 17 years old, de Jongh has gone on to produce ten series, including a daily strip for Dutch newspaper Metro Holland. She lives in Rotterdam.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Like an engrossing but terrifying dream, de Jongh's dark, circular psychological drama (originally published in the Netherlands) gets its hooks in readers immediately. Simon, a bearded, bird-loving protagonist, is already depressed at the story's start because he and his wife will likely have to sell the bookshop that's been in his family for generations. That's before a woman commits suicide in front of him at a train crossing. Traumatized by the event, Simon withdraws from his wife into memories of childhood, which metastasize into another strand of gnawing guilt. He also strikes up a friendship with a book-loving female student whom he tells everything that he keeps from his wife. Though credulity is sometimes stretched by all the catastrophes befalling Simon, the narrative has a page-turning quality frequently absent from psychologically astute graphic novels. In her graphic novel debut, de Jongh draws with a spare but expansive eye that captures the dramatically empty spaces and dark woods that emphasize the subconscious trauma threaded through this elegantly rendered tale.
