Parenthetical.net

The subtitle pretty much says it all: “Tales of Daring Women Dressed as Men for Love, Freedom and Adventure.” This is graphic non-fiction, though the stories are fictionalized, and some were legends rather than history to start with. The women run the gamut from Hatshepsut, female Pharaoh, to Ellen Craft, a slave who dressed as a white man to escape north with her husband (definitely my favorite story of the bunch).

I love the concept. I teach at a girls’ school, and I can see this being a lot of fun for my kids. Unfortunately, the writing can be heavy-handed, and the stories end up dry and distant as a result. For example, from the story about Esther Brandeau, a persecuted Jew in 18th-century France who is taken in by a Christian family after a shipwreck:

Esther: But I could do more for you. I know how to read and write.
Mme. Churiau, her rescuer: So? You’re just a girl. It doesn’t matter what you know or what you think. We women only work our fingers to the bone, or get married, or both!

Every story has a version of this anvillicious speech about how women can’t do x, followed by lots of thought bubbles of the woman in question figuring out that she could do x if only she put on breeches. It’s repetitive, and you never get a real sense of the distinct personalities of the women. (That’s why I liked Ellen Craft’s story best: it’s distinct. She has no interest in living as a man. She and her husband are in love, and she’s brave and reckless enough to see that posing as a white man traveling with his slave is the only way for them to be together and free.)

There are things I like about the art, but I think it was the wrong choice for this book. Art with more emotionally expressive faces could have brought the stories some needed warmth and immediacy. (Also, what’s with the random cheek circles?)

In summary: fun concept, weak execution.

The book is also reviewed by Gail at Original Content (who mostly agrees with me) and the author interviewed by Kelly at Big A little a (who doesn’t).

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