Literatures and cultures librarian Katrina Spencer is liaison to the Anderson Freeman Center, the Arabic department, the French department, the Gender Sexuality & Feminist Studies (GSFS Program), the Language Schools, Linguistics and the Spanish & Portuguese departments. These affiliations are reflected in her reading choices. “While I am a very slow reader, I’m a very critical reader,” she says.
Pages: 47
The What
“Mamette” is a work of graphic literature born from a strong tradition of cartooning in France. The title character is Mamette, a senior citizen who is also a widow. It tells of her intimate and sweet adventures in navigating her daily life: meeting up with friends in a park, visiting her husband’s tombstone and babysitting a rambunctious youth, to name a few. The work is beautifully colored and its humor is warm, quiet and endearing.
The Why
I came across this work by accident in Montreal. I was visiting a friend and asked her to take me to a French-language bookstore, Renaud-Bray. I spent most of my time on the upper level of the store where graphic novels and children’s literature were housed. As a librarian who loves languages, how could I resist? I furiously jotted down titles that I thought would be great for our browsing collection and that’s how the library came to acquire this author’s work.
Rating: 5/5 cardigans
Heart-warming, beautiful, full-color and unpretentious; this work does not try not to be any more than what it is.
