Home / Arts and Entertainment / Ghosts of the Past Fuel Graphic Novel Memoir
Ghosts of the Past Fuel Graphic Novel Memoir
29 Jan
Summary
- Graphic novel memoir explores family's trauma from China's Cultural Revolution.
- Author Hulls confronted her isolating family legacy head-on.
- The book offers a pathway to healing generational wounds.
Pulitzer Prize-winning graphic novel memoirist Tessa Hulls explored her family's deep-seated trauma stemming from China's Cultural Revolution in her work, Feeding Ghosts. The narrative centers on Hulls' grandmother, Sun Yi, a journalist whose life was upended in 1949, forcing her and Hulls' mother, Rose, to flee Shanghai.
Sun Yi's subsequent struggles and institutionalization led Rose to grow up in a Hong Kong boarding school. Hulls grappled with her grandmother's morally ambiguous choices, weaving her own confusion into the book. This generational trauma impacted Hulls, leading her to isolate herself before confronting her family's history.
Hulls' journey involved research trips and visits to China, fostering reconciliation and a connection previously thought impossible. The process brought a painful yet rewarding softening, enabling her to face the family's shared hurt and find healing.
