With its focus on friendship and the passing of time, Alison often recalls Stewart’s graphic short story collection It’s Not What You Thought It Would Be. While its predecessor was enjoyable but uneven, here she sustains the drama, and the parade of small things – baths and bars, studios and shopfronts, spiralling arguments and moments of joy – builds into something rather special. Before you know it, half Alison’s life has rushed by, and she is the established artist feeling bemused and invigorated by the next generation – and able to dispense more balanced advice than the old men who preceded her. As the thrill of bohemian romance leads inevitably to disappointment, Alison begins to find her own path - through art, friendship and love. It’s not an easy mix to get right, but Stewart makes this scrapbook approach feel like the most natural thing in the world. There’s a deceptive economy to both her drawings, in which a few short lines evoke an array of emotions, and her prose, which moves with an easy eloquence from “the familiar colours of West Country rain” to “a call that leaves her crumpled and alone in a department store”. The book’s skewering of the art establishment is often very funny, but there’s fury here too, at inequality, misogyny and the barriers put up by established artists and fixers, “all those old men who told me I should paint portraits of myself naked”. They left strange-shaped holes in my life, their outlines too specific to ever be filled by anyone else. So I suppose I work around them. The holes. The loss.' First of all: The pictures were stunning and really brought the atmosphere of the story to live and the prose were so delicately beautiful.

Alison by Lizzy Stewart review – a tale as old as the hills made new by Alison by Lizzy Stewart review – a tale as old as the hills made

Alison is newly married, barely twenty and struggling to find her place in the world. A chance encounter with an older artist upturns her life and she forsakes convention and her working-class Dorset roots for the thrumming art scene of London in the late seventies. I really don’t want to give anything else away, but let’s just say that Alison is a heartbreaking, emotionally charged, but ultimately uplifting work of art. Yes, a work of art, I loved the artwork in Alison, Lizzy Stewart’s way of using mixed media in the form of the graphic novel ( some written, some drawn ) works so well. It’s a gloriously gorgeous piece of work, and the first I have read of Lizzy Stewart, but it won’t be the last. A través de prosa, il·lustració i còmic, ens relata la vida d’una jove de vint anys al Londres dels anys 70, recent arribada d’un poble petit de Dorset. A partir d’aquí, ens explica en primera persona com al llarg dels anys es troba a ella mateixa i el seu lloc: com a persona, com a dona i com a artista. Baby’s first graphic novel! And OMG why didn’t anyone tell me how much I was missing out, and that adding STUNNING artwork to a book doesn’t mean it’s any less of a story?! Consider me sold.This was such a gorgeous story and so enhanced by the illustrations which gave a real colour to both Alison's life and the passion she found through art. The story itself - so poignant and messy and moving in all the best ways. Alison doesn’t really seem to know herself when we first meet her, and it takes a couple of relationships and one special friendship to really bring out her true self, which was a beautiful journey to follow. Alison discovers a talent for painting at Kerr’s class and begins sitting for him. Within months, she has left her husband for Kerr and Dorset for London. Here, the great man critiques her portraits and takes her to smug parties where she feels like the “most misplaced person” in the room. But, slowly, she finds her own friends and haunts. She buys oil paints, canvas and tinned food with her meagre earnings and explores the city, “screeching with laughter on the bus after a po-faced gallery opening” with her sculptor friend Tessa, while her work grows stronger and stronger. The book’s skewering of the art establishment is often very funny, but there’s fury here too And I liked the way the story was told (mix of paragraphs, comics, letters, picture rows), that made it a really diverse an immersive reading experience. But then also, if one creates a story about fictional artists and their lives, and while reading I’m more than once feel the urge to google if they are really just fictional, because it feels so convincing realistic and just real, one just wins for me, full score, 100/100 :)

Alison by Lizzy Stewart review – the making of an artist Alison by Lizzy Stewart review – the making of an artist

I loved it, so well put together. I loved the art style as well as the subtly this book uses to cover some really big subjects. For me Alison had everything - if you think that cover is beautiful just wait until you open it up and see the amazing drawings inside. I really liked the way the author added so many different styles, colours and even interspersed the art with letters, it was visually fabulous.This really had everything - if you think that cover is beautiful just wait until you open it up and see the amazing drawings etc inside. I loved the way the author added so many different styles, colours and even interspersed the art with letters at points.