Erotic feminist graphic novel explores freedom in Dutch Golden Age
Sex, slavery, and rebellion collide in Raging Clouds, a lush graphic novel that reimagines 16th-century Holland as a powder keg of female desire and defiance.
Korean artist Yudori makes her English-language debut July 15 with this Fantagraphics hardcover about Amélie, a brainy merchant's wife stuck in a brutal marriage, and Sahara, the enslaved woman her husband brings home like a souvenir. But instead of becoming rivals, these women find dangerous common ground. Publishers Weekly praised Yudori's art for bringing "16th-century Europe to life with a crisp line that turns elegant and sinuous."
Don't expect your typical girl-power victory lap. "A lot of feminist narratives focus on successful women, how they overcame all odds," Yudori told Publishers Weekly. "But it's also important to talk about women who failed, who tried hard and didn't get what they wanted. There's so much more to history than who gets named."
Though she's never visited the Netherlands, Yudori drew from her global perspective: "It takes research and conscious empathy to imagine life from someone else's perspective, and I feel like that's what I've been doing my whole life."
"Women had a lot of respect in the Netherlands compared to other European countries around the same time," Yudori explained to PW. "But also responsibility. There was an expectation that women, no matter their class, would work." Sahara's mysterious background is intentional — as Yudori puts it, "She could explain herself, but she chooses not to. There's a kind of beauty in taking control of what you let people know."
 | A guest post by
|