Joanna Rubin Dranger is an award-winning Swedish graphic novelist, illustrator, and writer. Her accolades include the Stora Svenska Illustrator Prize, the Swedish Series Academy's Adamson statuette, the International Film Critics Award (the FIPRESCI Prize), and the Nordic Council's Literature Prize. She was the first female professor of illustration at Konstfack University of Arts, Crafts, and Design and lives in Stockholm with her husband and three children.
“Soulful . . . Ms. Rubin Dranger’s black-and-white drawings, spare yet richly expressive, are interspersed with family photographs and archival materials, including newspaper articles and political cartoons.”—The Wall Street Journal “Joanna Rubin Dranger has created more than a book—she has created a compelling experience. With a poignant collage of drawings, photographs, and archival documents, she makes the story of the Holocaust and its aftermath movingly accessible to readers of all ages. This is an important addition to Holocaust literature—I couldn’t put it down.”—Esther Safran Foer, author of I Want You to Know We’re Still Here “Dranger’s weighty book—both in physical heft and in literary significance—is a masterpiece, comprehensive in its scope of personal feelings and historical context . . . The author’s skill as an artist and as a writer bring a special touch to the genre.”—The Detroit Jewish News “This complex personal history is contextualized by the book’s interrogation into Sweden’s role in abetting the Holocaust. . . . The decades-old loss of family the author never knew feels palpable and immediate, and the lack of government action in the face of blatant evil is searing and prescient.”—Library Journal “A beautifully introspective account of a Jewish author learning about her roots—and a dark side of Swedish history.”—Kirkus Reviews “The storytelling unfolds in a collage of archival photos and documents, which helps anchor the evocative black-and-white drawings. . . . It’s a weighty and well-constructed addition to the graphic literature of the Holocaust.”—Publishers Weekly