A review by vinisgorla
The Two Lives of Penelope by Judith Vanistendael

4.0

[I received an ARC ebook copy from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review. Thank you for the book!]

A graphic novel about a surgeon who finds out that combining her job and her family is not easy and that she is also gradually bringing things with her from Syria. Traumatic things. I wasn't sure what the book would be about, but I still wanted to try it. The art looked very nice (almost unique for a GN) so I was more than happy to read it.

It is therefore about a surgeon, Penelope, who operates in both Brussels and Syria, who tries to combine her work life and her home life. I have to say I had little to no sympathy for Penelope. I understand that she finds her mission important, that it is her life to help in a country like Syria, but if you have been doing that for 10 years, have barely seen your family for all this time because you always come and gone for months and months, then you shouldn't get angry when people point it out to you or if your husband asks you to come home and stay (because he miss you, he is concerned, and he has to take care of the child all by himself). And your child will love you, but in a completely different way than you might want. More distant. Knowing more that you will leave anyway. I thought it was quite creepy (just like her child thought) that she sat on her child's bed for a while, staring at her child in the evening. Um ...

You should definitely not try to pretend you never left, which she unfortunately does. While her husband and daughter have found a rhythm in life without a mother, without a wife. I thought it was so sad for the daughter by the way. Having her first period and then had to call grandma who had to tell her everything because mom was gone and never cared).

So yes, sorry. Again, I think it's cool and great that she's doing all that work, work that many won't do because of the danger. BUT. You also have a family. You also have a loved one. I thought it was sad that she just kept disappearing and coming back without anyone knowing. Well great.

My heart also broke when Christmas was almost here and the daughter had a recital. Immediately they were asked whether mothers would be there. Well that says enough about how many Christmases and birthdays and other events mom has missed.

But, even though I just didn't like Penelope much, the book was beautifully written and I liked the bond between father and daughter. You just see they became a duality when mothers stayed away. You can see that fathers now know very well how his daughter works and also how they should work together to make the household work well.
The family was also beautiful and I loved that they got together so often and helped each other so much. Were there for each other.

The illustrations were beautifully and creatively done. Especially the ghost / trauma that Penelope took with her was very heartbreaking. Growing and dwindling. Sometimes big, sometimes small, depending on how Penelope felt. And in the end I was both angry and sad. By the way, I do hope that Penelope has found help because if you bring ghosts home, it is not going well.