The artwork was so elegant and the colors breathtaking. The author was really intentional with every aspect of this book. The plants were a great analogy. ( )

A melancholy little mood piece has a woman reflecting on her childhood with a mother who was often emotionally and physically absent due to her mental health issues. She uses their shared interest in gardening as a means to cope with and connect to the fleeting memories she has of her mother.

FOR REFERENCE:

Contents: Dirt -- Water -- Light -- Epilogue

Trivia: Briana Loewinsohn shares a studio with Gene Luen Yang and Thien Pham and appears briefly in [book:Dragon Hoops|44280830] and [book:Family Style: Memories of an American from Vietnam|61484899].

(Best of 2023 Project: I'm reading all the graphic novels that made it onto one or more of these lists:
• Washington Post 10 Best Graphic Novels of 2023
• Publishers Weekly 2023 Graphic Novel Critics Poll
• NPR's Books We Love 2023: Favorite Comics and Graphic Novels

This book made the PW list.) ( )

A spare memoir about moving forward through childhood trauma and maintaining a connection with the memory of one's parent in the face of their mental illness and abandonment. The few words of the text give way to abundant illustration, the same way a memory can feel all around us while simultaneously eliding the words we need to retell it. I enjoyed. ( )

Ephemera is a melancholy graphic biography truggle to handle her mother's mental illness. It poignantly blends memoir, magic realism, and graphic medicine with ethereal artwork. From the early days of her childhood, Brianna had to get used to her mother being physically absent from her life to being psychologically absent. Her mother never got well and Brianna accepted as much of her mother’s behavior as she could. I thought it odd that none of the characters had names. However there was only author Brianna, her mother and her father. There wasn't much dialogue either. The story took place in a garden, a forest, and a greenhouse. The story drifts among a grown woman, her early memories as a child, and the gossamer existence of her mother.

I was sad after reading this book. It was highly recommended by reviewers so I obtained a copy of it. I wish I hadn't, though, because it is a story with no happiness whatsoever. ( )

i have a hard time with graphic novels or memoirs without many words, and this was no exception. there are some really tender feelings and metaphors here, but i am not the right audience for this. ( )