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A review by cweichel
Happy Birthday, Alice Babette by Qin Leng, Monica Kulling
4.0
This book is delightfully charming. It is an imaginary vignette from the life of Alice Babette and Gertrude Stein. Alice wakes up on her birthday expecting a surprise, but it appears that Gertrude has forgotten. When she heads off for a walk through the streets of Paris, Gertrude gets to work to surprise Alice by cooking her favourite foods and writing her a special poem. Unfortunately, after the food is cooking, Gertrude gets lost in her poetry writing and the meal ends in a disaster.
Qin Leng's beautiful watercolour illustrations capture the essence of Paris and the characters of the two women.
I only wish that their relationship was more fully acknowledged. Kulling refers to them as friends. Even in the end notes where she says they lived together in Paris for forty years, there is no mention of it. I don't understand this and have to question why she didn't refer to them as partners or even spouses.
Qin Leng's beautiful watercolour illustrations capture the essence of Paris and the characters of the two women.
I only wish that their relationship was more fully acknowledged. Kulling refers to them as friends. Even in the end notes where she says they lived together in Paris for forty years, there is no mention of it. I don't understand this and have to question why she didn't refer to them as partners or even spouses.