The men of 17th Company are held down in the trenches of WWI by the Germans. They are aware that they serve mainly as cannon fodder for the higher ups but have tried to maintain a sense of humour. In an act both of defiance and irony, they have named their trench the Folies Bergere after the famous Parisian musical cabaret club. Life in the trenches is mainly misery, and death broken occasionally by boredom. As the war proceeds with no discernible movement either forward or back, the men are, not surprisingly, descending into hopelessness and even madness. Several men are condemned to death by firing squad including one who attacked his superior officer after being refused a long anticipated leave. But somehow, although riddled with bullet holes, he survives the Firing Squad not once but twice. And then a little girl mysteriously appears on the battlefield…

The graphic novel, Folies Bergere, was beautifully written by Zidrou and exquisitely drawn and coloured by Francis Porcel depicting in grim detail the horrors of war. There is little action and no real heroes. The story about life in the trenches is interspersed with scenes of life before and, interestingly, with a storyline about Monet and his possible inability to draw frogs for his famous lily pads. Both this and the interesting use of colours help to make the contrast between life for those who fought and those who remained behind even more stark. There is one heck of a twist at the end that I will say no more about except that it served as a metaphor to make the story even more gut- and heart-wrenching.

Given its subject matter, Folies Bergere is definitely not meant for a younger audience. It is a beautiful but bleak portrait of war that many might find upsetting. I should say for the sake of honesty that, as a military mom, it may, for me, have produced a more visceral reaction, but it is one of the best books, certainly graphic novels, I have read in a very long time.

Thanks to Netgalley and Europe Comics for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review ( )