Cartoonist Alison Bechdel’s first memoir came out in 2006. Called Fun Home, it dug deep into her complicated relationship with her father, a closeted gay man who poured his emotional energy into redecorating their Victorian Gothic home. He died, possibly a suicide, shortly after Bechdel herself came out as a lesbian in college.
That’s a lot of information to take in, but it’s an essential backdrop for Bechdel’s new book, Are You My Mother? It’s a searching, and at times visceral, portrait of Bechdel and her mother – a relationship that’s still evolving.
I remember reading Fun Home when it came out and I thought it was one of the best graphic novels I ever read. I’m champing at the bit to read her latest piece I’m sure it’s just as gut wrenching and honest.