In 2014, an extract from For the Love of God, Marie! by Jade Sarson won the Myriad First Graphic Novel Competition. In 2016, the full book finally hit the shelves. A whirlwind about love and sexuality, this novel makes us think about what it means to love and what it means to be family. Marie, the only daughter of in a conservative, religious family is our main character. We follow her from a young 6th former in the 1960s to a middle-aged woman in the 1990s, along with the people she loses and finds along the way. This graphic novel is a warm, sex-positive book with a cast of fierce characters who work hard to navigate a world that doesn’t always understand them, so they have to understand each other.
The artwork of this book is particularly appealing and possibly this book’s biggest draw. The use of colour, especially the warm orange tones, is extraordinary. The orange of Marie’s hair is always prominent and works beautifully to draw different themes together. The characters all have distinct, unique looks with varied and diverse bodies. We all look a little bit different and this book reflects that.
For the Love of God, Marie! is a bit of a controversial book and certainly evokes many different responses out of its readers. Many love the book for its frank appraisal and discussion of sex, the diversity of the characters and, of course, Marie’s charm. But just as many find the character development limited and the plot to be a little predictable. There might be some truth to that and certainly the book’s not perfect, but in a world where soppy romance is available for straight people everywhere and the “Bury Your Gays” trope is alive and well … I think a fun, sweet and unconventional book about people of the LGBTQIA community does a world of good.
Written by Esther De Dauw
