I really enjoyed this graphic novel. The artwork is beautiful and the story is interesting - the characters are complicated and felt very real. I particularly loved Henny and Penny (of course).

The description of this book is both exactly what happens and yet so far from the reality of this book. Jim is worldly, witty, vulnerable and vulgar, heartfelt and heartbreaking. His deterioration comes on swiftly, more swiftly than a man so young should have been facing, and yet he lingers on and on in his pain until his split of bad and worse days end if only to give him peace. It is just a glimpse of the horrible reality of AIDS, rendered simply in devastating colour.

Likewise, Annemarie's fear and resentment don't just strain her family, they destroy it. What she can't control, she fears, then resents, then breaks. We see it first with the mug, a symbol of her daughters talents and exploits, bleached because a gay man touched it and still not deemed clean enough so she breaks it and throws it away. Her relationship with her husband, already strained, is touched in the same way and cannot be redeemed; eventually she breaks that too. The dogs... her relationship with her daughter, her son: nothing is safe from Annemarie's determination to make things the way she wants, and if they won't... well. It is a painful but so real depiction of a troubled mother, with troubled relationships. Wilson gives you some humanising glimpses into her, a little understanding, but it only makes her cruelty so much worse. "There are some things you protect yourself from knowing" is a line I know will haunt me for some time.

The art here is beautiful, and structured like both a diary and a memoir. Some of this feels immediate while other pieces are remembered in the aftermath, or looked back on much later. The art follows this same style, with some art rendered distinct as a recent memory, while others are blurred by the moment or sketched together later down the line. A past cobbled together from notes, diary pages, an idiot's guide to how dad works, and the daytime show Lou imagines up for Henny and Penny, Jim's two sweet, ill-fated dogs.

This was a painful read that doesn't shy away from the ugliness of what it uncovers over the course of one summer in 1985, but nor does it gloss over the beauty to be found as well. Lou's moments of understanding with her father, the tenderness she creates with Jim and the direction she takes for her life as a result, standing up to her mother in the same quiet, honest way she's had throughout. It is one hell of a coming of age for her, but well worth the travel to go with her.

*Thank you to the publisher and to Netgalley for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.*

It’s 1985, a small town in Oregon. One day, Donald brings a friend and colleague, Jim, home and says they need to care for him as he is very sick. His wife, Annemarie, resents this extra responsibility thrust on her because it’s not just Jim but his 2 dogs as well that she has to take care of. Annemarie has no idea that Jim is dying of AIDS, and when the truth emerges, the family is forced to confront fear and prejudice. Emil Wilson’s “The Nightingales” is based on a real incident that occurred in the author’s family. Wilson narrates the story largely through the perspective of Donald's teenage daughter Lou, whose growing friendship with Jim becomes central to her own passage into adulthood.

Wilson’s flamboyantly colourful illustrations fill the pages to the brim. Pencil sketches, washes of colour, scraps of handwritten notes, diagrams, taped-in pages and typed dialogue all coexist to tell the story. The narrative moves quite fast as it takes the shape of such different mediums to suit the moment. Wilson shows Jim this witty, generous, and occasionally exasperating person who refuses to let his illness define him. I felt like he was meant to be this soft-spoken person but with a loud personality, someone who feels vividly alive.

The character of Lou also stands out. She is the only one in the family who welcomes Jim with genuine curiosity and warmth. She shares conversations and bits of her life, and gradually a gentle friendship grows between them. Lou approaches Jim without the assumptions that dominate the adults around her, and through him she begins to understand both the world beyond her small town and the kind of person she wants to become.

Through the family’s situation, Wilson captures the atmosphere of the time - the misinformation, the moral fear and ostracisation that AIDS patients went through.

Happily recommend this graphic novel.

Thank you to Random House UK, Vintage and NetGalley for my copy.

Lou and Jim's friendship story.
Lou's father's friend Jim comes to live with them. The two form a friendship and we learn about their lives, and those involved in them.

This is touching, emotional and at times, sad, but not in a shock-value-way.

Emil Wilson presents each page with immense care, elegance, curiosity and uniqueness. The art is 5 stars unlimited.
If you like Emil Ferris' intricate and rich style, there are some similarities - of course each artist's style is unique to them. Just the same richness, and lots of work involved. Wilson uses various styles and techniques though.

This was also a bit daunting for me in terms of the narrative. Innovative and fresh, but I kept wondering for the narrative to flow better, if the organisation of the art, the structure and the layout could have been slightly different.

Nevertheless, close to 5 star experience in all aspects: art, reading, story, characterisation, emotions.