Lai presents a tender and emotionally raw examination of three women struggling to form and maintain their identities within and outside of their immediate family, illustrated in a loosely expressive style that conveys both bombastic catharsis and silent anguish with aplomb.Īthena-like, Lai bursts onto the graphic scene fully formed and utterly realized with this jaw-dropping debut. You can’t help but root for the characters. This graphic novel, Lee Lai’s first, is bittersweet and filled with authentic dialogue and realistic situations, including a lack of tidy resolutions. book that will change the literary landscape in 2021.

Lee Lai's graphic novel debut is an elegantly illustrated and introspective marvel, a deeply moving story about the push and pull between family and selfhood. Lee Lai is one of the most exciting new voices to break into the comics medium and she has created one of the truly sophisticated graphic novel debuts in recent memory. Taking a leap of faith, each opens up and learns they have more in common with their siblings than they ever knew.Īt turns joyful and heartbreaking, Stone Fruit reveals through intimately naturalistic dialog and blue-hued watercolor how painful it can be to truly become vulnerable to your loved ones - and how fulfilling it is to be finally understood for who you are. As their emotional intimacy erodes, Ray and Bron isolate from each other and attempt to repair their broken family ties - Ray with her overworked, resentful single-mother sister and Bron with her religious teenage sister who doesn’t fully grasp the complexities of gender identity. Their playdates are little oases of wildness, joy, and ease in all three of their lives, which ping-pong between familial tensions and deep-seeded personal stumbling blocks. An exhilarating and tender debut graphic novel that is an ode to the love and connection shared among three women and the child they all adore.Ģ022 Lynd Ward Graphic Novel Prize WINNERĢ022 Lambda Literary Award WINNER, LGBTQ ComicsĢ021 National Book Foundation '5 Under 35' Honoreeīron and Ray are a queer couple who enjoy their role as the fun weirdo aunties to Ray’s niece, six-year-old Nessie.

Stone fruit novel