In some cases, I'm able to at least guess that based on what I've heard about the book. In the case of This Slavery, however, I had never even heard of Ethel Carnie Holdsworth's book until getting my hands on the graphic novel adaptation by Scarleet and Sophie Rickard. The original was written in 1925 and details the lives of two sisters when the textile mill they work at burns down and leaves them -- and many other area residents -- without income. That it's not more well-known than it might be is largely intentional because, well... let me talk specifically to the Rickard sisters' adapation for a bit first.
The book takes place in Lancashire, England in some unspecified time before World War I. The Martin family -- sisters Rachel and Hester, along with their mother and grandmother -- are living in poverty, to the point of reading and darning socks in the dark to save money by not burning an oil lamp. Many of their neighbors are in similar situations, so when the local textile mill burns down, many find themselves out of work. The lack of income begins impacting the Martin's health as they can't eat properly or stay warm during colder days. Hester develops a nasty and persistent cough, and her grandmother passes away.
A new mill by another businessman opens. He takes a liking to Hester, and courts her despite her blatant disinterest. She does eventually relent, though, for the sake of escaping her family's perptual poverty. Meanwhile, though, Rachel learns that her birth father was none other than the owner of the other mill that burned down, a fact intentionally hidden from her by her mother. When he offers to buy their silence, Rachel becomes incensed and starts becoming much more active in advocating for workers' rights. The two sisters' lives diverge pretty notably; but Rachel observes that while she is sometimes arrested and thrown in prison for her "agitation" her sister Hester is living in a prison of her own as well.
As the years wear on, though, the two both work for the benefit of the common man. Rachel becomes a powerful speaker on behalf of unions and workers' rights, helping to organize strikes and the like. While Hester largely plays the "good housewife" despite her husband's increasingly abusive treatment of her, she secretly relays notes about his business plans to the workers so they can counter them more efficiently. This all comes to a head after several years, and he physically throws Hester to the curb in anger and frustration shortly before caving to the workers' demands. Although Hester is killed while police are ostentisbly "protecting" the crowd, Rachel continues her efforts and even expands toward the then-just-starting Labour Party.
I am absolutely not doing this story justice in my summary. Despite the surface story really only focusing on the lives of two women, there are so many layers of socio-political commentary and cultural observations, I can't begin to summarize everything. And even more impressive is how this was written a century ago, it still speaks very directly to our collective situation today. There are a handful of wealthy elite living in their fortified mansions largely oblivious to life outside their walls while everyday folks are stuggling to pay for food and shelter and health care.
Capitalism depends on uncertainty. It's part of the system that we are liable to be flung out of work to starve and rot at any moment. And if we object, Capitalism provides for a police force and an army to quell us using lad of our own class to shoot us down... We must accept Capitlism thrives not only on the selfish courage of Capitalists, but the cowardly apathy of workers like ourselves. Just a week's grub is enough to cotnent us to go on in the same old way.There were several bits of dialogue like that that just rang out like a shot; I could easily fill a page with similar quotes that get right to the crux of issues like that. Barbed and succinct. You are being used and discarded like an old tissue. How much of that is Holdsworth's and how much of is Sophie's, I can't say. Or how much of is basically Holdsworth's, but Sophie tweaked it slightly or gave the dialogue to another character or in a different situation. Regardless, the phrase "spitting bars" comes to mind.
As to Scarlett's artwork, she does an incredible job setting the mood for every scene. The opening, for example, I initially thought was dark and muddy, but we soon learn that was a very deliberate choice to show how they literally are living in a muddied darkness with the lights off. And while there's nothing that gets particularly bright and cheery, the level of color and light sends a clear message to the reader what any given character's situation is. And somehow she always just uses "local color," i.e. the colors she depicts are what they actually would be in real life, not using any kind of emotional color filtering or anything. And the scenes where things get particularly bleak -- when the grandmother passes away, for example -- it's downright haunting.
Surprising to me, too, is that Sophie's linework is pretty thin and delicate, but neither does it get lost in the coloring nor does it seem to rely on the coloring for distinguishing between objects and shapes. I've seen other artists who are excellent illustrators and colorists, but their weak inking skills hinders the story. I suspect if I just saw a page of Sophie's black and white linework, I would assume the same, but her coloring works exceptionally well with her inking style, I am quite impressed.
The book clocks in at over 350 pages, and some of the elements are pretty heavy, so it's not something you can breeze through quickly. But it's absolutely excellent and has a really strong message that I think more people need to hear today in 2026. The book came out back in October from SelfMadeHero, so it should be readily available through your favorite bookstore right now. It retails for $23.99 US. Go pick up a copy, and be prepared to make a side run to the hardware store because, despite Rachel's ongoing message of non-violence, there's a good chance you're going to want some torches and pitchforks when you're done.
0 comments:
Post a Comment