In Spain, Paco Roca is one of the more well-known cartoonists and graphic novelist. In fact, he has a solid following worldwide and many may be familiar with his first graphic novel “Wrinkles” which was made into an animated film or his second graphic novel, the WWII epic “Twists of Fate”.
And his third and most recent book “The House” will be released in English and Spanish by Fantagraphics on November 5th.
“The House” is no doubt a personal book for Paco Roca as it is dedicated to Roca’s deceased father and I am reviewing an uncorrected proof, so I’m not going go too far into details, nor will I spoil the storyline. Nor will I post examples of the artwork, because I don’t know how many changes will be made in the finalized version.
But I will say it is a book that will resonate with many people, as it deals with adult children dealing with the death of a parent and how one copes with it.
“The House” revolves around three siblings who return to the family’s vacation home a year after the death of their father.
The family intends to sell the house, so they are taking turns cleaning it up.
Jose is the youngest of the three, who is an artist married to Sylvia and struggles with why his father died. He saw his father as a fighter and he often wonders if his father approved of him being an artist. Meanwhile, his older sibling tend to resent him because he pursued his career overseas, while they had to be at home to witness their father getting older, getting sick and dying.
What will Jose find out when he starts cleaning out the house?
Meanwhile, his older brother Vicente is bitter. He pretty much took care of his father, while Jose was in Madrid and their sister Carla was busy. While his son Juan remembers life the good times with grandfather, Vicente has deep emotions of having to be the one who had to do everything and having to make difficult decisions.
Carla is married with two kids and remembers her time with her father, but is saddened that he was not there to be in the lives of his grandchildren. While her husband wouldn’t mind living at the house, Carla is more intent of selling it.
But what happens when these three siblings (and their families) come to visit their old vacation house?
I for one enjoyed this book because it’s a realistic storyline.
From siblings having to cope with the death of a loved one, to one having to make the hard decisions and a typical story of how one pulls the weight of getting things done, while the other siblings, not so much.
These emotions that these characters are feeling are genuine. Many people who read this probably can identify with one of these characters or know people in similar circumstances.
It’s a part of life and Paco Roca’s “The House” does a magnificent job of portraying it.
Overall, “The House” is a book I definitely recommend.
