Press

If it's hard to talk about Rosalie Lightning without sounding hyperbolic, it's only because its achievement is so breathtaking: it is the bravest act of writing and bearing witness I expect to see in my lifetime. There aren't words of praise sufficient to this brave, unblinking task. It will comfort the grieving for generations to come; I am profoundly grateful for this book. - John Darnielle

"Tom Hart's RL is honest, searching, burning, and beautiful. Every parent will find a piece of themselves in this unforgettable graphic memoir."

-Scott Mccloud

Tom Hart's black-and-white "RL," excerpted briefly, recounts the loss of his 2-year-old daughter Rosalie by building a hill of fragile, elegantly drawn memories around it. It's a bleak and devastating work that shows comics' ability to convey emotion as effectively as any short fiction or literature.

- Denver Post

The loss of a child is every parent's deepest terror. I don't know how Tom Hart was able to make such a stunning, harrowing book out of his devastation and rage; it strikes me as most gracious and humane thing anyone could possibly do. Reading Rosalie Lightning is like standing at the edge of an abyss and watching someone construct a gleaming titanium bridge by sheer, overwhelming force of love. 

-Lauren Groff

It's near impossible to put grief into words, let alone words and pictures. And yet, here's Tom Hart's tale of parenting, loss, and the power of images, perfectly rendered in the language of comics. Only a cartoonist of tremendous skill and a father with loads of guts could piece through his heartbreak and come out with such a piece of art. I can't read it without crying.

—Austin Kleon, author of Steal Like An Artist

"beautiful and gut-wrenching...a gift to every reader and to anyone who has grieved."
-Library Journal

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