Blossoms in Autumn
Words by Zidrou
Art by Aimée de Jongh
Translated by Matt Madden
Hardback, 144 pp, $24.99
Ulysses is a 59-year-old widower who, since retiring, has been in the grip of loneliness. The former removals man is without direction or purpose. He can’t even find solace in the company of his children: his daughter is dead, his son consumed by work.
62-year-old Mrs Solenza is a former model. Once a magazine cover star, she now runs the family business: a cheese shop owned by her late mother. She, too, is alone.
Two lives drift sadly by, inching ever closer to old age. Until, one day, they collide – and an emotional earthquake happens. A unique collaboration between veteran comics writer Zidrou and rising star Aimée de Jongh, Blossoms in Autumn is a masterful exploration of growing old and falling in love.
62-year-old Mrs Solenza is a former model. Once a magazine cover star, she now runs the family business: a cheese shop owned by her late mother. She, too, is alone.
Two lives drift sadly by, inching ever closer to old age. Until, one day, they collide – and an emotional earthquake happens. A unique collaboration between veteran comics writer Zidrou and rising star Aimée de Jongh, Blossoms in Autumn is a masterful exploration of growing old and falling in love.
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Aimée de Jongh
Aimée de Jongh is an award-winning animator, comics artist and illustrator from the Netherlands. She published her first comic aged 17, before going on to study animation. She has since created work for children's books, TV shows, music videos and art installations, alongside numerous comic book series. Her animated film Aurora was screened widely in the Netherlands, and Janus, a video installation she created with the L.A.-based artist Miljohn Ruperto, was exhibited at the Whitney Museum of American Art. The Return of the Honey Buzzard, her first graphic novel, won the Prix Saint-Michel, and her 2021 graphic novel Days of Sand was a two-time Eisner-nominee.
Zidrou
Zidrou (Benoît Drousie) is a Belgian comics writer. He is the author of numerous children’s books and adult graphic novels. Born in Brussels, he now lives in Spain.
Reviews
"The story of an older couple who fall suddenly and unexpectedly in love, it has a rare sweetness, a glorious innocence that is unusual even in the world of comics. Guardian Graphic Novel of the Month."
— The Guardian
"Blossoms in Autumn captures the poetry of human relationships along with the belief that life might hold a few surprises in store, should we allow ourselves to welcome them."
— The Comics Journal
"A raw, honest, poignant and quite a beautiful meditation on love and ageing."
— Broken Frontier