Review: The Undertaking of Lily Chen by Danica Novgorodoff

6 May, 2014 Reviews 9 comments

Danica Novgorodoff brings to watercoloured life the story of Deshi whose unmarried brother dies under suspicious circumstances and Lily who walks boldly to her own destiny. To understand the novel, you have to understand the old Chinese custom of ghost brides:

“Parts of rural China are seeing a burgeoning market for female corpses, the result of the reappearance of a strange custom called “ghost marriages.” Chinese tradition demands that husbands and wives always share a grave…”

Deshi is given a sum of money and told to not return home until he has found a suitable wife for his dead brother. He finds a ghost marriage-broker but all the brides he offers up for consideration are a bit too decayed for Deshi’s taste. Then he sees Lily and decides she is perfect. The only flaw in his plan? She still has a pulse but that is not too troublesome a detail as Deshi can easily remedy that.

Meanwhile Lily is having troubles of her own. Stuck in a backwater village with no prospects except an inevitable marriage to a pock-faced acquaintance, Lily is fast realizing that her only way to escape the drudgery in her future is to flee. And Deshi presents an excellent opportunity to escape. So Deshi, Lily and Deshi’s mule find themselves on a journey ostensible to Beijing though Deshi has more sinister plans than Lily is aware of.

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The graphic novel is charming and careful not to misappropriate culture. The text itself is sparse and not overly stylized. This works well with the art which is breathtaking for its softness and detail. What I love about the book is the unspoken story that plays out in the art but is not textualized. Most of the humour is subtle and tightly interwoven with the art. For example, Lily’s father sets out with a group of ten or so men in order to find Lily and bring her back. During the journey, the reader sees the creative ways the men find to leave the company. There is never a mention of the gradually decreasing number of men in the text and this adds another layer to the reading experience. A fun layer that affords unexpected chuckles. Another thing I absolutely loved is how at different moments in the book, Deshi’s mother is shown sewing the bridal dress for the ghost bride. Each consecutive drawing shows her progress and is a silent reminder of Deshi’s primary mission.

Lily is a major reason I liked the book. She is such a fun, irreverent character, completely unaware of the danger she is walking into and making impulse decisions that change her life drastically. She is a good foil to Deshi’s rather staid character and I must say, a bit more convincing than he is.

I enjoyed this novel immensely and if graphic novels are your thing, well, even if they are not, you should definitely give The Undertaking of Lily Chen a try. The art is beautiful, the story is humorous as well as dramatic at the appropriate moments. Strongly recommended.

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9 Responses to “Review: The Undertaking of Lily Chen by Danica Novgorodoff”

  2. Christina (A Reader of Fictions)

    Damn. I should have requested this. The email from First Second came in when I was really busy and stressed and I didn’t ask for anything. Pardon me while I kick myself.

    Oooh, I read a book on the ghost bride tradition, but it was boring. This sounds so much better, and my goodness that art. I will definitely find a way to read this at some point.

    • nafizaa

      I wouldn’t say the art is Asian-inspired and I don’t think Novgorodoff is Asian but I could be wrong. Either ways, it’s a good book.

  4. Alex / AnimeGirl

    That looks pretty darn awesome!!
    I love the drawings, and that they are in full color – as I’m more of a manga girl, this is very rare – 🙂

    Thanks for putting this on my radar.

  5. Francine Soleil

    That is gorgeous! I don’t really read a lot of graphic novels, but considering that this is a standalone I just might try it. It looks so interesting, and I love how you described it – how the pictures speak more which allows the art to shine in itself. I hope I can find a copy of this locally.