BRITTEN AND BRULIGHTLY. Graphic novel by Hannah Berry

Britten and Brulightly. Hannah Berry. Jonathan Cape 2008.

BRITTEN AND BRULIGHTLY

I often turn to the graphic novel when I’m in between books or as a follow-up after finishing a really great book. A good graphic novel has a way of cleaning house, getting rid of clutter and clearing my mind. They are quick yet satisfying. And don’t call them comics.

Britten & Brulightly

Britten and Brulightly is a highly stylized, very smart debut graphic novel by Hannah Berry. I love a well rendered graphic novel. I am in awe of the artists ability, with a few drawings to pull the reader through pages of action, drama and dialogue. When done well, what a gift.

Hannah Berry has this gift well in hand. Her debut graphic novel is written and drawn with a mind and hand of an old pro, not of a twenty-something woman.

Britten & Brulightly

Fern Britten is a private detective that is carrying a very heavy load. He’s decided to take on a suicide case to try to atone for all  the damage he’s wrought throughout his career. His partner, a most unlikely partner, Stewart Brulightly is the lighthearted foil to Britten’s gloom. They are working on a case with twists and turns, danger and despair. Despite Britten’s best efforts to bring light and peaceful closure to this case, he’s left with yet another unhappy end.

There is a deeply dark undertone in Britten and Brulightly that received some bad press, implying Ms. Berry was insensitive to the topic of suicide, so reader be warned if you carry that type of baggage, you might want to reconsider reading this. That said, I was not distracted or disturbed by the dark presence of suicide in this graphic novel. It was part of the story. My only criticism, which is often my criticism in most of the graphic novels I read, is the leap to the end of the story, almost a rush to wrap-up which had me re-reading the final few pages without really feeling as though I had a full grasp on all the lose pieces. Not to worry, the graphic part of the graphic novel usually fills in the gaps for me.

Britten & Brulightly

Enjoy Britten and Brulightly for it’s noir, it’s 1940’s detective novel flair and for the stong debut of Hannah Berry, breaking through with this terrific graphic novel