Forget Sorrow: An Ancestral Tale - Belle Yang

In FORGET SORROW (W.W. Norton, $23.95), Belle Yang, tells the story of a Chinese family, using panels that recall the black-and-white ink paintings essential to Eastern culture. Beginning with this visual cue, Yang recreates a world of characters and settings that ring absolutely true. At the same time, she imbues the tale with a spiritual presence that’s evident in every pen-stroke. First and foremost, however, Forget Sorrow is about family. With the merest illustration and description, Yang conjures uncles, grandparents, and siblings who have the nuance, charisma, and weight of real people. This book is not only a landmark in graphic nonfiction, but a significant addition to the canon of Asian family memoir.