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Reviewed by Penny Kenny All My Darling Daughters will be released January 19, 2010. Relationships can be a minefield. There are issues of control, power, and what each person really wants out of the relationship. Fumi Yoshinaga explores this rich and explosive territory in the five inter-connected stories of All My Darling Daughters. The focus here is on emotion, not plot. There are no villains, grand quests, or great romances. The characters are going on inner journeys, trying to understand themselves and the people they're intimately connected with. They're also trying to make their conflicting thoughts and desires understood by others. These are stories of mothers and daughters, men and women. In one story a woman tries to come to terms with her mother marrying a man younger than her own thirty-some years. In another, a young woman looks into contracting an arranged marriage, and in a third, a teacher indulges in some highly improper behavior with a confused and troubled student. Yoshinaga keeps a distance between the readers and the characters. The reader isn't privy to a character's thoughts. She has to go by what's said and how the characters behave; only there's often a disconnect between what the characters are saying and how they're acting. This dissonance accomplishes two things. It makes the characters more human, more believable; and it increases reader involvement in the story by making her look beyond the surface to see what's really going on. All My Darling Daughters isn't entirely without humor. There are light moments. For the most part though, a melancholy, bittersweet air hangs over the book. There are no problems that are truly resolved. The characters might understand themselves or one another a bit better, but that doesn't mean everything is sunshine and roses after. In many ways this volume reminds me of Keiko Nishi's Promise, a two-story collection Viz released in the early 90s. Both authors seem to believe some sort of understanding can be achieved, but that it won't necessarily lead to the typical idea of happiness. Yoshinaga's art is extremely attractive. There's very little background detail. The focus is on the characters' faces and body language. Only rarely does Yoshinaga slip into a modified, deformed version of the characters to show extreme emotion. All My Darling Daughters is a little gem of a book. It's definitely not for the fan of the typical shojo series found on the local Barnes and Noble's shelves. However, readers who have moved beyond Nana or who enjoy Jodi Picoult's novels might want to give this a try. Think you could have written a better review of All My Darling Daughters ? Write us and we'll probably let you give it a shot! --EiC PC |
19 January 2010
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