Are You My Mother?

Are You My Mother? by Alison Bechdel (2013 Mariner Books softcover 290pp)

 

“Are You My Mother” is the second of the three graphic novel memoirs that Alison Bechdel has produced over the last two decades. It was preceeded by the excellent “Fun Home” (2006) and more recently followed by the thought-provoking "The Secret to Superhuman Strength" (2021).

As the title suggests, this time she intends to focus on her relationship with her always somewhat distant Mother. However, a great deal of the volume is taken up with her agonising over writing about her family and whether she should be doing it at all. I wasn’t really swept up in the narrative like I was by the other two books. There’s nothing essentially wrong here but this one just didn’t seem to fire the same level of imagination and interest with me. Part of the problem is the choice she took to alternate between her mother and the work and life of the mid twentieth century paediatrician and psychoanalyst Donald Winnicott, sometimes juxtaposing her life events against some key piece of his writing. My trouble was his writing was dry and boring and I started to skip reading it at all. Some of his ideas in regards to the relationship between mother and child are very interesting but I feel Bechdel made a rare mistake by using so much of it in the book. One choice that does work well is starting each section by illustrating a dream she’s had and then proceeding to work out where the dream imagery came from.

The artwork again is top notch and instead of the blue wash and highlights used to colour “Fun Home” this time she uses a red/brown colour to great effect. There are plenty of images that illustrate events in a particular place and time – Bechdel is good at doing this, from what’s on TV to magazine and newspaper headlines etc.

 It was good to ‘hear’ her voice once more but felt this book was something of a lost opportunity.