The Property

   Jewish Book Council Weekly                

 

by Rutu Modan; Jessica Cohen, trans.
Drawn and Quarterly, 2013. 232 pp.US $24.95

 

 After the death of her son, Regina Segal takes her granddaughter Mica to Warsaw, hoping to reclaim a family property lost during the Second World War. As they get to know modern Warsaw, Regina is forced to recall difficult things about her past, and Mica begins to wonder if maybe their reasons for coming aren't a little different than what her grandmother led her to believe.

Modan offers up a world populated by prickly seniors, smart-alecky public servants, and stubborn women--a world whose realism is expressed alternately in the absurdity of people's behavior and in the complex consequences of their sacrifices. Modan's ever-present wit is articulated perfectly in her clear-line style, while a subtle, almost muted color palette complements the true-to-life nuances of her characterization.