The House that Groaned

(Paperback)

Publishing Details

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Description

Introducing a fresh and utterly original new star in the graphic novel world 141 Rottin Road 'A cosy, one-bedroom apartment on the first floor of a charming Victorian conversion. Newly decorated and with a separate kitchen and reception room. Located just a bus ride away from a wide range of shops, restaurants and bars.' Welcome to The House that Groaned and the six lonely inhabitants of its separate flats, characters so at odds with themselves and their bodies that they could only have stepped out of the pages of a comic novel. There's Barbara, our make-up artist heroine and man-made blonde bombshell; Matt, the photographic re-toucher who can't touch; Janet, the tormented dietician; twenty-something Brian, the diseaseophile whose sexual penchant takes him to the edge of perversion; old Mrs Durbach, imprisoned inside her ageing body; and the gloriously fleshy and hedonistic Marion, agent provocateur and ringleader of the Midnight Feasters. Exploring the themes of body-image, sexuality and the loneliness and isolation of contemporary urban life, The House that Groaned is a modern-day fairy tale full of magic realism and farcical symbolism which will woo both comic fans and attract new readers to the medium.

Reviews

In a world where people know ever less about their neighbours, this graphic novel is both a fantasyand a cautionary tale. Anyone who has ever lain in bed at night listening to the sound of unknown voices on the other side of the cardboard wall will relish the way she lets her imagination off its leashfunnybeautiful lookingthis book might almost be alive -- Rachel Cooke * Observer, Graphic Novel of the Month *
An enjoyable tale, dark but full of energy, fascinated by the private lives and perversity that bulge beneath suburbia's facade -- James Smart * Guardian *
A damn fine book; hugely, spectacularly impressive * ForbiddenPlanet.co.uk *
Karrie Fransmen breaks all the rules of storytelling accumulated over the past thousands of years. She creates a confusion at first, then bursts into the obvious and simplest fact; that all the stories of and in our lives are personal and private.... The only way this wonderful book could have been written is by illustration...not by word... rather like the hidden stories drawn on the walls of caves -- Nicolas Roeg, director of Don't Look Now and Walkabout
Fransman's dual background as a psychology and sociology student and a creative advertiser helps underpin her skills at both characterisation and communication By its melodramatic finales, The House That Groaned acknowledges some scars that miss their chance to heal, but also gives us a kind of happy ending for two tenants -- Paul Gravett * Independent *

Author Bio

Karrie Fransman's autobiographical comic strips 'My Peculiar World' were published in the Guardian's G2, and her graphic story, 'The Night I Lost my Love' was published in the Times in 2010. She also makes Comic Apps and sculptures and her work has been exhibited in London, Belgium and Russia. She runs projects at the London Print Studio and House of Illustration. Born in Edinburgh, Karrie now lives in London in a house not dissimilar to the one in her book. You can see more of her work at www.karriefransman.com