Exquisite Corpse

Exquisite Corpse / Pénélope Bagieu; translated from the French by Alexis Siegel
New York : First Second, 2015.
124 p.

I enjoyed Brazen, Penelope Bagieu's graphic novel biography collection, so much that I quickly picked up another of her books from my library as well. 

It's the story of Zoe, unhappy in her life as a product model, enduring sexism on the job and a disgustingly sexist, boorish boyfriend. While wandering around Paris she encounters a reclusive author when she spies him in his window and asks to use his bathroom. Her youthful and uneducated mien inspire him, and when she throws off her job and boyfriend, she goes back & is taken in by Thomas Rocher, a best-selling and famous author she does not recognize at all - one of her charms for him. 

However, she is quickly bored and annoyed when he will never leave the house for any reason, and then his ex-wife Agathe, also his editor, starts hanging around once more, now that he has a new novel on the go, thanks to Zoe's inspiration.

Zoe begins to read, and to read, and to read. She educates herself and slowly she and Agathe come to a detente, mostly over their shared annoyance with Thomas. Then Zoe discovers the big secret -- Thomas Rocher "died" a few years ago, and the posthumous novels that his editor brings out are bigger hits than ever thanks to that. 

What to do? Especially since Thomas is starting to ignore her and treat her poorly... Zoe must make a choice, and with some surprise support from Agathe she makes her move.

But you'll have to read it yourself for the twist, and the way in which Zoe decides to reclaim a life for herself. The writing in this brief story is wry and amusing, and the characterizations are not complex but they are fun. Bagieu plays with literary cliches and truisms, and has fun with it. I enjoyed the surprise ending - well, it was a surprise to me - and laughed a lot at the skewering of literary pretensions and the interplay of the characters. I also enjoyed the style of the art; it is bright and expressive and fits the storyline well. 

If you are in need of a fun, light read, which is both very French and very much set in literary circles, this one is a great choice.