This is How I Disappear
-
- $14.99
-
- $14.99
Publisher Description
An affecting glimpse into the ways millennials cope with mental health struggles
Translated by Aleshia Jensen and Bronwyn Haslam
Clara’s at a breaking point. She’s got writer’s block, her friends ask a lot without giving much, her psychologist is useless, and her demanding publishing job leaves little time for self care. She seeks solace in the community around her, yet, while her friends provide support and comfort, she is often left feeling empty, unable to express an underlying depression that leaves her immobilized and stifles any attempts at completing her poetry collection. In This is How I Disappear, Mirion Malle paints an empathetic portait of a young woman wrestling with psychological stress and the trauma following an experience of sexual assault.
Malle displays frankness and a remarkable emotional intelligence as she explores depression, isolation, and self-harm in her expertly-drawn novel. Her heroine battles an onslaught of painful emotions and while Clara can provide consolation to those around her, she finds it difficult to bestow the same understanding unto herself. Only when she allows her community to guide her towards self-love does she find relief.
Filled with 21st century idioms and social media communication, This Is How I Disappear opens a window into the lives of young people as they face a barrage of mental health hurdles. Scenes of sisterhood, fun nights out singing karaoke, and impromptu FaceTime therapy sessions show how this generation is coping, connecting, and healing together.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Malle (The League of Super Feminists) delivers a keenly observed graphic novel portrait of depression, trauma, and healing. Clara's a poet whose life, on the surface, seems to be coming together. She has a book about to publish, a steady if frustrating job in publishing, and a circle of friends. But she struggles with suicidal thoughts and panic attacks that make daily life a battle, especially as her book launch pushes her anxieties to the fore. Malle's loose, sprightly black-and-white pen art shines at depicting the details of artsy 20-something society: karaoke nights, soul-baring conversations at cafés and coffee shops, an emotional birthday party at a cabin. Clara's experience highlights the mundane stresses of dealing with mental health, from searching for affordable therapy to learning how to set limits on social activities, as well as the deadening exhaustion of depression. "It's like my head's full of something black and sticky that sucks up all my energy," she reflects. The leisurely paced story sometimes rambles in its search for a narrative thread, but eventually gets direction as Clara finds strength and support in her comrades. Reminiscent of the diary comics of Gabrielle Bell, this low-key look at life in recovery has a disarming simplicity and bracing sincerity.
