In a small French street a young woman suffers a terrible loss when her child is stillborn. Weeks later she begins to act oddly, cradling a invisible child, believing that her lost girl has returned. She calls the child Lydie. While initially taken aback, her community rallies around her, supporting her and joining in her belief that Lydie is still among them. It's a touching story of grief, loss and solace as well as the power of a community. The illustrations are beautiful, perfectly complimenting the poignant story. And yet, there was something slightly unsettling about the idea of the charade in such an important matter, the small hints that Lydie is perhaps not quite completely imaginary don't quite dispel this.

This was ... weird. Also very very sad, especially because the very first couple of pages show not only a woman losing her child but also a man drowning an entire litter of kittens, which is super freaking disturbing.
The art is quite beautiful, and very very French, since of course the artist and author is Zidrou, so how could it not be.
Still, at heart this is a sad but lovely story about a community that bands together to make all of its citizens, even the ones who are a little "different" feel welcome.

Heartwarming but a little creepy. Perfect for reader who like a touch of the macabre. Art is beautiful. Leaves you feeling just a bit off kilter.

A heartwarming short story about a feeble-minded young woman who gives birth to a stillborn child. (I know it sounds horrific, not cute. Just stick with me.) Two months later she is still pretending her daughter is still alive. (Don't worry, the child is imaginary, not a corpse.) The tight-knit neighborhood slowly comes around to entertaining her delusion while Camille raises Lydie to adulthood.

Jordie Lafebre's art looks like it stepped out of a quaint European cartoon. It's beautiful.

This graphic novel had me in tears at several points. The illustrations worked beautifully with the story creating an engaging and emotionally charged storyline.

'Lydie' tells the story of Camille, a young French woman who is described as being "meek minded". Ordinarily, such a term would make me mad and defensive, however, it is given a historical context and rather than being mocked by her peers Camille is wrapped in their figurative embrace and sheltered by the whole town.

While this was a tearjerker, for me, I read the last page with a smile on my face. A beautiful, sweet story. Well worth a read!

This is a fascinating story and the art is good too. I think it shows what happens when people come together and help each other.

Belgian/French BDs are really something. I don't think I've laid eyes on a single one that hasn't stayed with me or stood out in some way, even the one's I didn't like so much. Lydie's a wonderful story, albeit too short to get me emotionally invested, but I'd like to particularly praise how expressive Lafebre's art is! I wish I could use perspective and create distinctive faces as well as he does. Not to mention the panels! I should take notes.

Fascinating story. Beautiful illustrations. Overall, this story was very unique and intriguing and between the images and the text, it was hard to put down!

This is such a unique story. I found myself immediately wrapped up with the characters stories, and although I was certainly confused at times, I felt the ending was perfect. Partially a story of mental illness, family relationships, and coming together to heal and grieve. But also partially a story about ghosts? If that doesn't intrigue you, I don't know what will! Haha! The illustrations were simply stunning. I fele that the artwork was divine with warm colors to help set the mood of the story. I will definitely be recommending this book.

I received a digital copy of this book from NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

This graphic novel takes place from the perspective of a Madonna statuette. In a small neighborhood where every family knows each other, a tragedy befalls a family. There is a stillbirth, but weeks later the mother believes her baby daughter has returned to her. The community supports this woman.



There are some quirky characters in this book and I love them. It seems so peculiar, yet realistic. Different views on religion are portrayed. I enjoyed the various perspectives presented.



I give this sweet, emotional story a 5/5. The art is great. It is so well written. I highly recommend this book to those into quirky, emotional graphic novels.

Lovely art adds a warmth to the story, making it sweet instead of strictly depressing. The community of neighbors is delightful, and every person is really given their own personality. The story reminds me of people who seem to live in fictional universes, through books or other media, and it has a rather hopeful tone. Not what I expected, but I was pleasantly surprised.

'Lydie' by Zidrou with art by Jordi Lafebre is the kind of graphic novel I love to stumble upon. It's also the exact kind of evidence I would give to people who think graphic novels don't have rich, interesting stories to tell.

The story is told by the madonna statue that oversees the residents of a cul-de-sac named after a defaced billboard. A young woman gives birth to a stillborn baby. She lives with her father, and we never find out who the babies father is. Months later, she believes that her prayers have been answered and the baby lives. No one can see it but her. Initially, the residents think she is crazy, but they haven't the heart to tell her, so they play along. The life of this invisible child is told through the kindness and grace of the people of the neighborhood.

This story was so beautiful and had such rich emotions. The kindness of playing along shows such love to this young woman. We learn that she's probably not able to care for herself, so the way these people take her in is moving.

The art is really beautiful. The colors stay muted and the expressions on the characters faces run the gamut of emotion. I absolutely loved this story.

I received a review copy of this graphic novel from Europe Comics and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for allowing me to review this graphic novel.

A fantastic graphic novel! Beautiful artwork throughout and a lovely story.

Script by Zidrou, Illustrations by Jordi Lafebre (translated from Spanish)
English publication date Mar 21, 2018

Description:
On a forgotten cul-de-sac in a nameless city, a child is born. It doesn’t take long for the charming little girl to work her way into the hearts of all the residents on this cozy little street. Does it really matter that she’s invisible? The child’s mother delivered a stillborn, fatherless baby. Two months later, she becomes convinced that her child has returned from heaven. The neighbors don’t have the heart to tell her otherwise, and so they play along. After all, “why bring somebody pain when it's so easy to bring joy instead?” ...But is Lydie really a figment?

My Thoughts:
My first question - Is this graphic novel with the old fashioned sepia toned cover and the disturbing scene with the man killing the litter of kittens for middle level readers?

Perhaps that is not the right question. Perhaps the question is which middle level reader is this graphic novel for? This is for the reader who embraces magic realism and who can embrace some of the ugliness in the world in order to understand where beauty comes from in communities and in people. This is for the reader that will eventually make their way to other magic realism stories and movies like Big Fish, Amélie, Scott Pilgrim versus the World, Beasts of the Southern World, my favorite, but definitely not for middle school Esquivel's Like Water for Chocolate and my sister Becky's favorite Pan's Labyrinth.

So this is for Becky, who by middle school was the only child left at home with older parents. This is for Becky who found that the world in books did not need to be a reflection of the world outside of books, but more of a door and a window to possibilities and alternate universes.

I am drawn to this story of a ghost baby that is not a ghost baby, not for my own loss, but for the window and door it opens to a way in which a community can let go of logic and create a more magical truth.

This advanced digital copy was made possible by Europe Comics and Net Galley in exchange for an honest review.

Camille, a young woman, gives birth to a stillborn child. The pain is enormous, inconsolable, and the only way to overcome it is to ask for a miracle. Two months after the birth Camille sees her daughter Lydie, back from heaven, but she is the only one able to see her.

Her neighbors think she has lost her reason, but what evil can do a nice gesture? Everybody begin to indulge Camille behavior and Lydie's presence fills the neighborhood.

A delicate, beautiful story, both for the plot and the drawings.

Thanks to the publisher for providing me the copy necessary to write this review.

I loved this graphic novel! It was short and sweet, but it was beautiful. The story was definitely original, i thought it would take a while for me to enjoy it but i found myself racing through it! The story of Lydie and her family is beautiful in their little street in what seems like France. It showed the beauty of compassion and the unwavering love of a mother no matter her means or mind and i. loved. it.

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2329887418

This book was incredibly heartwarming thorough both the illustrations and the story itself. The way that the characters banded together to help this poor woman out combined with the mysterious narrator. It just proves that people can be incredibly kind and they won't judge as long as something is for the best in someone else.

I took some time to accept this book - the artwork makes everyone look a little, well, ugly; the device of having a religious statue as narrator seemed out of place; and when it proved to be a book about a woman who can't accept her infant died at birth, well - it seemed to be not up my street at all. But I was definitely charmed by the end - it has heart, it has invention, it clearly is set in a world where - the darkness of the title character aside - one would wish to live. It really turned itself round in my estimation, so I would definitely recommend it. It's the strangest and mostly oddly compelling look at faith, familial love and fraternity you will read for a long time.

Lovely drawings for an odd story. A simple-minded young woman has a baby who died young, but the the mother never believes that. In order to keep her happy, the entire town pretends that she is real, except it seems that maybe not everyone has to pretend.