Rosalie Lightning: A Graphic Memoir by Tom Hart is an interesting look at grief. The author’s self-centered approach (meaning he is the center of the grief, how things around him come into his circle of emotions and trying to live) is both relatable and unique to his own experiences. Anyone who has lost a child (regardless of the age) can find parts of themselves. Seeing how weeks to a few months after the death of his almost two-year-old daughter came to shape him is touching and calm. Personally, I am not a huge fan of the illustrations, as they are a bit cartoonish for my tastes, but it works well with how Hart’s journey goes.
That’s really all I want to say about the actual story. There are many details of big and small natures. There are things about other life events happening (the death of a friend of the wife). There are little things like seeing the moon and having your heart broken again as it was your baby’s favorite thing to say, “Where the big moon go?” We have things about signs (did Hart and his wife miss them? Were there any? What signs are happening now?) and then ways of healing such as going to a grief retreat, talking about it, not talking about it, immersing yourself in dark depression, or completely ignoring it.
Okay, I did say a few more things, but really it is an emotional book. To be honest I had many feelings about Hart from sympathy, hope and even dislike. It is a roller coaster and Hart is the driver, but as we’ll see a few times, he is not a great driver and gets stuck or broken down a lot. And that, in the end, is what really captured me. Things are not perfect, crap happens during the most horrific time in your life and you will or won’t deal with it. And those of us watching from the outside just hold on.
