belonging a german reckons with history and home

Krug's inquiry is relentless, and driven by a profound sense of mission. In a remarkable series of panels, depicts the various alternate choices he could have made in response to the difficult challenge he faced. Krug writes about mending and reparations, but she doesn't let herself-or readers-lapse into complacence. Krug balances this terrible history with bucolic scenes of the German countryside, and a running feature titled 'From the notebook of a homesick émigré,' which flags iconic practical and comforting German items that she misses, but can only go so far to salve wounds. But it's endlessly absorbing, and you wouldn't want to read this book in the dark anyway: Stark reminders of Nazism's brutality are haunting.

There's a lot to take in, and with its scrapbook abundance, the book can be visually challenging-particularly when Krug deliberately fades her lettering to express hollowed out feelings.

Her uncle's school essays, which are filled with ugly anti-Semitic propaganda, are disturbing, as are flea market finds like Hitler Youth toys that include a nasty caricature of a Jew. It is richly illustrated with cartoons, family photographs and letters, handwritten text, and archival German documents annotated in English by Krug. Belonging is both emotionally and graphically complex. In its searching honesty and multi-layered, visual and verbal storytelling, it packs the power of Alison Bechdel's Fun Home and David Small's Stitches. Pick up Nora Krug's reverberant graphic memoir, Belonging, and be prepared to lose yourself for hours.

Belonging a german reckons with history and home