The Red Virgin and the Vision of Utopia | 
pickI hadn't intentionally picked up another graphic novel biography by the Talbots, having enjoyed their book about Leonora Carrington last month, and I was pleasantly surprised when I realised they'd created this one from my last library haul.
They pick such interesting people to feature: I'd not previously heard of Louise Michel, the Red Virgin of Montmartre, feminist activist in the Communards (not the electropop band!), the first person on ⬇️
so-soFirst book of the new year! Not as good as “Sally Heathcote, Suffragette” — the framing device on this one is a bit blah and the narrative never quite escapes it. But some gorgeous art, particularly three double page spreads communicating the shock and horror of a massacre.
This is what we had.
This is what you have left us.
And your cattle, they roam all over our gardens. They eat all our yams and taros.
Put a fence around your garden, then, so the cattle won't eat your crops.
I'll put a fence round the garden on the day I see my yams and taros climbing out of the ground to eat your cattle.
Louise Michel had it going on back in 1871 during the short lived socialist revolution called the Paris Commune. She was exiled to New Caledonia after the massacre. This graphic novel tells her amazing story and highlights her revolutionary spirit.
Starting a socialist revolution in 1871 Paris is hard work. Louise Michel was a revolutionary feminist before her time. What a great graphic novel about an amazing but unknown heroine from France.
Wow! I can't wait to dig into this graphic novel about Louise Michel, a Parisian revolutionary and feminist who fought to defend the Paris Commune in 1871. Defeated, she was sent to a penal colony on the other side of the world where she stirred up the indigenous population against their colonial masters, there too.
Got my Landfall Freight box today! The theme was Make Herstory and the graphic novel is about Louise Michel, a revolutionary feminist dubbed "The Red Virgin of Montmarte." I can't wait to start it!
Got my Landfall Freight box today! The theme was Make Herstory and the graphic novel is about Louise Michel, a revolutionary feminist dubbed "The Red Virgin of Montmarte." I can't wait to start it!
Just got my Landfall Freight box for this month! Super excited for all of the awesome feminist stuff here! Plus, the tote has a zipper top!!! 🙌🏼
The narrative structure is intriguing, told in flashbacks as a conversation between a now-elderly female friend of Michel and American author and activist, Charlotte Perkins Gilman, who had briefly met ⬇️ (edited) 11mo