TITLE: American WidowAUTHOR: Alissa Torres
STARTED: August 25, 2009
FINISHED: August 25, 2009
PAGES: 224
GENRE: Graphic Novel
FIRST SENTENCE: The World Trade Center was just hit by a plane!
SUMMARY: [From barnesandnoble.com] On September 10, 2001, Eddie Torres started his dream job at Cantor Fitzgerald in the North Tower of the World Trade Center. The next morning, he said goodbye to his 7½-months-pregnant wife, Alissa, and headed out the door.
In an instant, Alissa’s world was thrown into chaos. Forced to deal with unimaginable challenges, Alissa suddenly found herself cast into the role of “9/11 widow,” tossed into a storm of bureaucracy, politics, patriotism, mourning, consolation, and, soon enough, motherhood.
Beautifully and thoughtfully illustrated, American Widow is the affecting account of one woman’s journey through shock, pain, birth, and rebirth in the aftermath of a great tragedy. It is also the story of a young couple’s love affair: how a Colombian immigrant and a strong-minded New Yorker met, fell in love, and struggled to fulfill their dreams. Above all, American Widow is a tribute to the resilience of the human heart and the very personal story of how one woman endured a very public tragedy.
THOUGHTS: I did not expect to cry while reading this book. I knew it was about a widow - a woman who was 7 months pregnant when she lost her husband at the World Trade Center. I knew that and, yet, I was still convinced that I would not cry. I cried. At some points during the story, I held myself back from sobbing. This book is raw - completely and utterly. The stark illustrations only enhance the emotions of this graphic novel. American Widow is a heartbreaking story that is nothing but emotion.
I don't particularly like Alissa Torres - which is weird to say because she is a real person. Still, I don't particularly like her, but that doesn't stop me from enjoying her story. The text seems like a first draft, but in a good way. The lack of editing makes it all the more real. The part of the story where I lost it was while Alissa was giving birth to their son. That page is mostly text and it just grabbed me and would not let go. While that moment stands out, the whole book is just one ball of emotion and it makes you feel.
American Widow does not seem to be a graphic novel with a purpose. It just is. And I think that is what makes it so endearing.
RATING: 8/10 [Terrific]
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