Irmina

Description

In the mid-1930s, Irmina, an ambitious young German, moves to London. At a cocktail party, she meets Howard Green, one of the first black students at Oxford, who, like Irmina, is working towards an independent existence. However, their relationship comes to an abrupt end when Irmina, constrained by the political situation in Hitler's Germany, is forced to return home. As war approaches and her contact with Howard is broken, it becomes clear to Irmina that prosperity will only be possible through the betrayal of her ideals. In the award-winning Irmina, Barbara Yelin presents a troubling drama about the tension between integrity and social advancement. Based on a true story, this moving and perceptive graphic novel perfectly conjures the oppressive atmosphere of wartime Germany, reflecting with compassion and intelligence on the complicity that results from the choice, conscious or otherwise, to look away. "A comic of substance, real feeling and expression" Paul Gravett, Editor of 1001 Comics to Read Before You Die

Barbara Yelin was born in Munich and studied illustration at the Hamburg University of Applied Sciences. In 2015, she was awarded the Best German Graphic Novel prize for Irmina at the PENG Awards. Yelin is also the author of Gift (with Peter Meter) and Riekes Notize. She lives in Berlin, Germany.

"A comic of substance, real feeling and expression" Paul Gravett, Editor of 1001 Comics to Read Before You Die