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Feeding Ghosts: A Graphic Memoir
An astonishing, deeply moving graphic memoir about three generations of Chinese women, exploring love, grief, exile, and identity.
In her evocative, genre-defying graphic memoir, Tessa Hulls tells the stories of her grandmother, Sun Yi; her mother, Rose; and herself.
Sun Yi was a Shanghai journalist caught in the political crosshairs of the 1949 Communist victory. After eight years of government harassment, she fled to Hong Kong with her daughter. Upon arrival, Sun Yi wrote a bestselling memoir about her persecution and survival, used the proceeds to put Rose in an elite boarding school―and promptly had a breakdown that left her committed to a mental institution. Rose eventually came to the United States on a scholarship and brought Sun Yi to live with her.
Tessa watched her mother care for Sun Yi, both of them struggling under the weight of Sun Yi's unexamined trauma and mental illness. Vowing to escape her mother’s smothering fear, Tessa left home and traveled to the farthest-flung corners of the globe (Antarctica). But at the age of thirty, it starts to feel less like freedom and more like running away, and she returns to face the history that shaped her.
Gorgeously rendered, Feeding Ghosts is Hulls' homecoming, a vivid journey into the beating heart of one family, set against the dark backdrop of Chinese history. By turns fascinating and heartbreaking, inventive and poignant, it exposes the fear and trauma that haunt generations, and the love that holds them together.
In her evocative, genre-defying graphic memoir, Tessa Hulls tells the stories of her grandmother, Sun Yi; her mother, Rose; and herself.
Sun Yi was a Shanghai journalist caught in the political crosshairs of the 1949 Communist victory. After eight years of government harassment, she fled to Hong Kong with her daughter. Upon arrival, Sun Yi wrote a bestselling memoir about her persecution and survival, used the proceeds to put Rose in an elite boarding school―and promptly had a breakdown that left her committed to a mental institution. Rose eventually came to the United States on a scholarship and brought Sun Yi to live with her.
Tessa watched her mother care for Sun Yi, both of them struggling under the weight of Sun Yi's unexamined trauma and mental illness. Vowing to escape her mother’s smothering fear, Tessa left home and traveled to the farthest-flung corners of the globe (Antarctica). But at the age of thirty, it starts to feel less like freedom and more like running away, and she returns to face the history that shaped her.
Gorgeously rendered, Feeding Ghosts is Hulls' homecoming, a vivid journey into the beating heart of one family, set against the dark backdrop of Chinese history. By turns fascinating and heartbreaking, inventive and poignant, it exposes the fear and trauma that haunt generations, and the love that holds them together.
400 pages, Hardcover
First published March 5, 2024
About the author
Tessa Hulls
1 book39 followersTessa Hulls is an artist/writer/adventurer who is equally likely to disappear into a research library or the wilderness. Her essays have appeared in The Washington Post, Atlas Obscura, and Adventure Journal, and her comics have been published in The Rumpus, City Arts, and The Margins. She has been awarded grants from the Seattle Office of Arts and Culture, 4Culture, and the Robert B McMillen Foundation, and received the Washington Artist Trust Arts Innovator Award. For the last almost-decade, she has focused on creating Feeding Ghosts, a graphic memoir that traces three generations of women in her family across a backdrop of Chinese history to explore the complicated ways that mothers and daughters both damage and save one another.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 57 reviews
March 15, 2024
What an accomplishment! I savored every page of Feeding Ghosts, absolutely floored by the labor and courage that went into the writing of this book. The inking is gorgeous, the history is clear, digestible, and devastating. This book threads the line between honesty and compassion in a way that I appreciate so much in any memoir, but especially one dealing with family. Hulls lays out the story of three generations of women starting with her grandmother, Sun Yi, a Shanghai journalist who faced intense persecution during the rise of Communism in China, who penned a popular and scandalous memoir and then suffered a mental breakdown. This left her only daughter, Rose, a student at an elite boarding school with no parental figures and no other family to lean on. Eventually Rose earned a scholarship to an American university and in the end moved her mother into her California home. Sun Yi haunted that home during the author's own childhood. The unexamined trauma and codependency of Sun Yi and Rose drove the author to the extreme edges of the Earth, seeking freedom from their ghosts. But in the end, she stopped running from her family history and turned, instead, to face it. Shelve this book with Maus, Fun Home, Persepolis and The Best We Could Do. Re-read it for a second time and got even more out of it on a second pass.
March 20, 2024
FEEDING GHOSTS by Tessa Hulls is an incredible and emotional graphic memoir. I loved this book! It made me cry so many times. Hulls shares her life growing up in the United States with her mother and both struggling with the intergenerational trauma of her grandmother’s fleeing Communist China and mental illness. There were several aspects to her family story that I related to and that made this a very moving read. This line really stood out to me: “In the US, being mixed felt like trying to build the foundations of a home in the open ocean between islands.” I’ve definitely felt lost at sea before between my two cultures. I really loved the care that Hulls put into this book with sharing her experiences and the Chinese history that informed her family’s life. The brilliant illustrations evoked the same emotions. I had to take breaks while reading this book and I loved every second of reading it.
Thank you to FSG Books for my ARC!
Thank you to FSG Books for my ARC!
March 22, 2024
This graphic novel combines two things I love: narrative history, and superb writing. I'm ordinarily skeptical about memoirs, because people tend to think of their lives as much more interesting than they really are, but trust me when I say that this one is remarkable. The tightly packed story feels like it's under pressure, as if it might burst out and escape at any moment, if I don't hold on to the edges of it.
The graphic format is a perfect vehicle for memoir, and Tessa Hulls knocks it out of the park. She contains a whole world of experience, and is an expert at metaphors, analysis, and reflection. It took her a decade to research and write this, and that effort shows.
A word about the title: hungry ghosts in this context, would be the unfulfilled familial spirits of the past. In order to begin to heal intergenerational trauma, one needs to feed those ghosts. FEEDING GHOSTS is present tense, not just because the author is anchored in the present and reaching into the past, but also because this is always going to be an ongoing process.
Some of the content is disturbing, but also very real. In a way, facing terrible events is a way to honor the people who experienced them, to let them be seen, to let them matter. We can't pretend horrors didn't happen. All those traumas are folded into the genetic code passed down through generations.
There are many lines I could quote from the book, but these seem to encompass the thrust of the story as a whole:
"All history is contested. Evidence exists as a field of dots. And we connect them according to what lenses we employ to examine the past.
But there are unequivocal facts."
I appreciate everything about the author's approach: her raw honesty, her extensive research, her grasp of psychological concepts, and even her illustrative use of Rock 'em Sock 'em Robots to represent the futulity of China's many struggles throughout history.
This is one of the best 2024 books I've read this year.
The graphic format is a perfect vehicle for memoir, and Tessa Hulls knocks it out of the park. She contains a whole world of experience, and is an expert at metaphors, analysis, and reflection. It took her a decade to research and write this, and that effort shows.
A word about the title: hungry ghosts in this context, would be the unfulfilled familial spirits of the past. In order to begin to heal intergenerational trauma, one needs to feed those ghosts. FEEDING GHOSTS is present tense, not just because the author is anchored in the present and reaching into the past, but also because this is always going to be an ongoing process.
Some of the content is disturbing, but also very real. In a way, facing terrible events is a way to honor the people who experienced them, to let them be seen, to let them matter. We can't pretend horrors didn't happen. All those traumas are folded into the genetic code passed down through generations.
There are many lines I could quote from the book, but these seem to encompass the thrust of the story as a whole:
"All history is contested. Evidence exists as a field of dots. And we connect them according to what lenses we employ to examine the past.
But there are unequivocal facts."
I appreciate everything about the author's approach: her raw honesty, her extensive research, her grasp of psychological concepts, and even her illustrative use of Rock 'em Sock 'em Robots to represent the futulity of China's many struggles throughout history.
This is one of the best 2024 books I've read this year.
Want to read
December 1, 2023If only my arc copy quality wasn't so shitty. My myopic eyes can't see shit. 😭😭😭
April 3, 2024
4.5 stars--GHOSTS is a stunning and brave graphic novel that examines the roles culture, mental illness, and generational trauma have had in shaping three generations of the author's family. An engaging, thought-provoking page-turner that really shows off the power of this medium.
April 14, 2024
This is easily my favorite book I’ve read this year and one of the most relatable books I’ve read in my life. There were many things I loved about it: the beautiful illustrations, deeply researched tidbits on Chinese history, courageous story-telling of deeply personal family strife and trauma. I also loved that it made me want to inquire more about my own family history, as I have truly only heard bits and pieces growing up and by no way know or understand the depths of my family’s experience during the Cultural Revolution and living under Communism.
Another thing I loved was how Hulls described growing up with two cultures and no one really knowing how to categorize her. I think I similarly struggled a lot growing up with thinking about how other people perceived me, rather than spending more energy just being comfortable with myself. I was also worried about not being accepted into Asian spaces, but as cheesy as it sounds, I first had to accept myself.
I was also really shocked by Hulls’ grandmother’s experience being a political prisoner in Mainland China. It was especially shocking how she wasn’t officially locked up, but the constant surveillance and regular questioning was almost worse than being locked up in a cell and generally left alone. The Party really seemed like Big Brother, and it seems very easy for someone like Hulls’ grandmother to really suffer from that mentally.
The book also gave a lot of hope around rebuilding relationships. It was really beautiful to see how writing the book brought Hulls and her mother much closer after many years of struggle. The research trips to China were also a highlight of the book for me, especially when the two got to visit their family after decades of being gone, and for Hulls, the first time. I really admire her learning Chinese to connect with her family and how much it meant to them. I similarly have always had the desire to deepen my Chinese language skills to connect more deeply with my family.
Hulls also leads such a unique and interesting life! I really respect the concept of finding seasonal work that gives you enough time and money to do the things you are passionate about. Although Hulls mentions the lifestyle getting tiring after many years, the concept of living in new places and being fully in nature really speaks to me.
Finally, the amount of effort it takes to write and illustrate such a moving tale is so impressive. I went to Hulls’ book talk in New York and thought she did a wonderful job talking about the work and how she thought about putting it all together. She also spoke about how lonely it was, especially during COVID, and how she probably won’t attempt something like this again. Regardless, I would love to read/see anything else she releases next, whether it be her work as a painter/artist or writer. 10/10 recommend this book!
Another thing I loved was how Hulls described growing up with two cultures and no one really knowing how to categorize her. I think I similarly struggled a lot growing up with thinking about how other people perceived me, rather than spending more energy just being comfortable with myself. I was also worried about not being accepted into Asian spaces, but as cheesy as it sounds, I first had to accept myself.
I was also really shocked by Hulls’ grandmother’s experience being a political prisoner in Mainland China. It was especially shocking how she wasn’t officially locked up, but the constant surveillance and regular questioning was almost worse than being locked up in a cell and generally left alone. The Party really seemed like Big Brother, and it seems very easy for someone like Hulls’ grandmother to really suffer from that mentally.
The book also gave a lot of hope around rebuilding relationships. It was really beautiful to see how writing the book brought Hulls and her mother much closer after many years of struggle. The research trips to China were also a highlight of the book for me, especially when the two got to visit their family after decades of being gone, and for Hulls, the first time. I really admire her learning Chinese to connect with her family and how much it meant to them. I similarly have always had the desire to deepen my Chinese language skills to connect more deeply with my family.
Hulls also leads such a unique and interesting life! I really respect the concept of finding seasonal work that gives you enough time and money to do the things you are passionate about. Although Hulls mentions the lifestyle getting tiring after many years, the concept of living in new places and being fully in nature really speaks to me.
Finally, the amount of effort it takes to write and illustrate such a moving tale is so impressive. I went to Hulls’ book talk in New York and thought she did a wonderful job talking about the work and how she thought about putting it all together. She also spoke about how lonely it was, especially during COVID, and how she probably won’t attempt something like this again. Regardless, I would love to read/see anything else she releases next, whether it be her work as a painter/artist or writer. 10/10 recommend this book!
March 5, 2024
Yes! I believe this book is released into the wild today? (I also remembered it was Tessa Hulls who recommended FRANKIE FURBO to me.)
FEEDING GHOSTS is a tremendous achievement—a fierce and artful recounting of generational and historical trauma, a tale of mothers and daughters that is rife with hard-won wisdom and surprising humor. It is also a beautiful object to travel through, a testament to so much talent, work and growth, so much time; what impresses me most is how the inventiveness of the art is matched by the richness of the voice, the narrative movement through time, and the sharpness of the prose. (“For my entire life, I have always heard the echoes of those waters, calling after me and my mom.” “So which came first? The memoir or the mental illness? Or were they, even then, somehow bound together, one and the same?” “Every memoir is a crafted act of highlight and omission.”) This book is a demonstration of how closed hearts might be opened.
FEEDING GHOSTS is a tremendous achievement—a fierce and artful recounting of generational and historical trauma, a tale of mothers and daughters that is rife with hard-won wisdom and surprising humor. It is also a beautiful object to travel through, a testament to so much talent, work and growth, so much time; what impresses me most is how the inventiveness of the art is matched by the richness of the voice, the narrative movement through time, and the sharpness of the prose. (“For my entire life, I have always heard the echoes of those waters, calling after me and my mom.” “So which came first? The memoir or the mental illness? Or were they, even then, somehow bound together, one and the same?” “Every memoir is a crafted act of highlight and omission.”) This book is a demonstration of how closed hearts might be opened.
March 11, 2024
I'm not crying you're crying
December 12, 2023
[4.5/5 stars]
"I never thought we would be able to reach this point, where both of our stories have room in which to live."
This memoir follows three generations of Chinese women - set against the backdrop of Chinese history, it is a vivid journey in which Hulls, after her grandmother's passing, tries to connect with her family's history.
The book starts with a timeline to situate her family's history in Chiness history, which I found utterly insightful and helpful. Hulls, of mixed-race and severed from her culture, hopes to build a bridge between her and her mother, while finding the way home.
From retracing her mother and grandmother when they fled communist China to coming to US, this is a family's story across three continents and four languages. Amidst the process of cultural and language immersion, Hulls uncovers the way mental illness affects her family. The author explores the depths of the psyche, in which they live with the distorted love while struggling between external mask x internal reality.
The dramatic art conveys the intensity of the volatile and extreme emotions. Raw and poignant, Hulls doesn't hold back at exposing all the brokenness. Inner ghosts chase these women, often imprisoned in a chamber of darkness whilst their minds are doomed to collapse. Diving into her grandmother's history was an intimate act, often a heavy encounter.
In addition to the vestiges of trauma, one is allowed a better understanding of the Chinese history, especially regarding Chinese communist party. It might demand some patience from readers as deeply immersing into one of the darkest parts of Chinese history - plagued by oppression and reform - is dense. One aspect that I found compelling is the pause in-between when the author shares her own reflections, speaking directly with the reader. This book is, ultimately, about loss of culture, (generational) trauma, privilege, mental illness, identity, belonging and immigration.
Written with unfiltered honesty, FEEDING GHOSTS is a graphic memoir that Hulls spent six years working on. This is a healing journey about mending (damaged) relationships that just became a favorite of mine. I highly recommend this graphic memoir for those into Chinese history, mother-daughter relationship and mental health.
[ I received an ARC from the publisher - MCD books . All opinions are my own ]
"I never thought we would be able to reach this point, where both of our stories have room in which to live."
This memoir follows three generations of Chinese women - set against the backdrop of Chinese history, it is a vivid journey in which Hulls, after her grandmother's passing, tries to connect with her family's history.
The book starts with a timeline to situate her family's history in Chiness history, which I found utterly insightful and helpful. Hulls, of mixed-race and severed from her culture, hopes to build a bridge between her and her mother, while finding the way home.
From retracing her mother and grandmother when they fled communist China to coming to US, this is a family's story across three continents and four languages. Amidst the process of cultural and language immersion, Hulls uncovers the way mental illness affects her family. The author explores the depths of the psyche, in which they live with the distorted love while struggling between external mask x internal reality.
The dramatic art conveys the intensity of the volatile and extreme emotions. Raw and poignant, Hulls doesn't hold back at exposing all the brokenness. Inner ghosts chase these women, often imprisoned in a chamber of darkness whilst their minds are doomed to collapse. Diving into her grandmother's history was an intimate act, often a heavy encounter.
In addition to the vestiges of trauma, one is allowed a better understanding of the Chinese history, especially regarding Chinese communist party. It might demand some patience from readers as deeply immersing into one of the darkest parts of Chinese history - plagued by oppression and reform - is dense. One aspect that I found compelling is the pause in-between when the author shares her own reflections, speaking directly with the reader. This book is, ultimately, about loss of culture, (generational) trauma, privilege, mental illness, identity, belonging and immigration.
Written with unfiltered honesty, FEEDING GHOSTS is a graphic memoir that Hulls spent six years working on. This is a healing journey about mending (damaged) relationships that just became a favorite of mine. I highly recommend this graphic memoir for those into Chinese history, mother-daughter relationship and mental health.
[ I received an ARC from the publisher - MCD books . All opinions are my own ]
February 20, 2024
gifted by the publisher
In this deeply moving graphic memoir, Hulls tells the story of 3 generations of women in her family, her Chinese grandma, Sun Yi, her mom, Rose, and herself. GHOSTS is an intimate and evocative exploration of intergenerational trauma and grief, blending modern Chinese history and the complex mother-daughter relationships across generations.
I held my breath reading GHOSTS because of the heavy topic of inexplicable loss, mental illness, and codependent relationships. Hulls acknowledges her inclination to use facts to help her process difficult emotions, evident in the history-heavy sections & her analysis of her grandma's memoir.
Nonetheless, I appreciate Hulls' showing the readers her vulnerability, especially the 3 women's tendencies to use external masks to cover their inner psyches. GHOSTS beautifully traces the lines of 3 generations and their search for freedom & love.
In this deeply moving graphic memoir, Hulls tells the story of 3 generations of women in her family, her Chinese grandma, Sun Yi, her mom, Rose, and herself. GHOSTS is an intimate and evocative exploration of intergenerational trauma and grief, blending modern Chinese history and the complex mother-daughter relationships across generations.
I held my breath reading GHOSTS because of the heavy topic of inexplicable loss, mental illness, and codependent relationships. Hulls acknowledges her inclination to use facts to help her process difficult emotions, evident in the history-heavy sections & her analysis of her grandma's memoir.
Nonetheless, I appreciate Hulls' showing the readers her vulnerability, especially the 3 women's tendencies to use external masks to cover their inner psyches. GHOSTS beautifully traces the lines of 3 generations and their search for freedom & love.
April 11, 2024
Maybe the best thing I’ve ever read? through her exploration of her own family history, tessa hulls put words to the generational trauma and immigrant experience that I’ve never had before. I thought this was brave and raw and thoughtful and a genuinely one-of-a-kind piece of work
April 21, 2024
It’s so hard to read about this journey, but it’s just oh so worth it. Loved every second of it. The ending was really touching <3
November 19, 2023
This book was so good. Full review to come
October 26, 2023
A raw graphic memoir exploring mental illness and the identity of our narrator as a child and adult of mixed heritage.
People like to categorise, naturally our brain wants to put things in groups, because it's easier to understand - but this will always hurt people as we are all more than a few tags. Throw in a history of mental illness and family secrets and you have quite a lot to unpack in your life before you are remotely ok.
This book is very real, in the sense that we see the author trying to understand as much as us, trying to gather a full picture, judging what is told to her, trying to fill in gaps, trying to make sense of something that will probably never make sense, because it's life, and life is messy.
I found that book very touching, and important in what it says about humanity as a whole, about being different, about not being what people expect, about never quite fitting anywhere, about wanting to belong, about wanting answers.
People like to categorise, naturally our brain wants to put things in groups, because it's easier to understand - but this will always hurt people as we are all more than a few tags. Throw in a history of mental illness and family secrets and you have quite a lot to unpack in your life before you are remotely ok.
This book is very real, in the sense that we see the author trying to understand as much as us, trying to gather a full picture, judging what is told to her, trying to fill in gaps, trying to make sense of something that will probably never make sense, because it's life, and life is messy.
I found that book very touching, and important in what it says about humanity as a whole, about being different, about not being what people expect, about never quite fitting anywhere, about wanting to belong, about wanting answers.
April 18, 2024
Excellent book. It is the author's very personal story and those of her mother and grandmother. And it's a story of not uncommon toxic family dynamics, and a story of culture clashes between first and second generation immigrants from China to Hong Kong and then to the US. And it's a story of one family's experiences of the early Communist years in China, with a little of the Cultural Revolution thrown in.
All those facets of the book come together beautifully. The art is black and white, with mostly black backgrounds. It is a bit scary looking at times, especially the creepy ghostly style, which goes with some of the worse emotional moments.
The story is: the author's grandmother became seriously mentally ill soon after fleeing China with her young daughter, the author's mother, who later moved to the US and eventually brought her mother to live with them. The grandmother was fearful and not completely in touch with reality, and the mother devoted much of her life to trying to comfort her. Since the mother hadn't had the experience of a healthy parent/child bond, she had expectations of the daughter that were unhealthy. The American focus on personal independence as opp0sed to the Chinese focus on family added to the problem. Writing the book was part of the author and her mother's effort to develop a healthier relationship, and apparently it worked to a reasonable extent.
Though the book resolved as much of the main issue as could be resolved, I was left with a question: what about the author's British father? He was in the background in the book, barely mentioned, with the mother waiting hand and foot on him. But, did he see what was going on in his house? Did he side with his wife in deciding the author was a mentally ill child? Was he any kind of parent? Did he ask her not to write about him? He had to be a factor in her childhood and onward.
The book is not a quick or easy read, but it's well worthwhile.
All those facets of the book come together beautifully. The art is black and white, with mostly black backgrounds. It is a bit scary looking at times, especially the creepy ghostly style, which goes with some of the worse emotional moments.
The story is: the author's grandmother became seriously mentally ill soon after fleeing China with her young daughter, the author's mother, who later moved to the US and eventually brought her mother to live with them. The grandmother was fearful and not completely in touch with reality, and the mother devoted much of her life to trying to comfort her. Since the mother hadn't had the experience of a healthy parent/child bond, she had expectations of the daughter that were unhealthy. The American focus on personal independence as opp0sed to the Chinese focus on family added to the problem. Writing the book was part of the author and her mother's effort to develop a healthier relationship, and apparently it worked to a reasonable extent.
Though the book resolved as much of the main issue as could be resolved, I was left with a question: what about the author's British father? He was in the background in the book, barely mentioned, with the mother waiting hand and foot on him. But, did he see what was going on in his house? Did he side with his wife in deciding the author was a mentally ill child? Was he any kind of parent? Did he ask her not to write about him? He had to be a factor in her childhood and onward.
The book is not a quick or easy read, but it's well worthwhile.
October 20, 2023
I found this book to be really gripping, but the reading experience really frustrating — solely due to the quality of the digital advance reader copy. Each page is very dense, containing very ink-heavy illustrations and bubbles full of handwritten text, but the image resolution quality of the e-galley was so low that even in full page mode it was a struggle to make out the words, and zooming it didn’t add any clarity. This was very distracting and tiresome, because the story itself was wonderfully layered and painfully honest, the kind of introspective narrative that invites immersion, but my eyes were simply too tired from making out the text to read uninterrupted. Either a regular typographic font or a higher quality of images would have fixed the problem… anyway, I’m determined to give this book another read after it is out on paper, to experience it as it was meant to be.
But typographic woes aside, the story itself is great. So much honest thoughts about intergenerational drama, gentle humour side by side with horrors and fears, unadorned but persistent interest in untangling complex family history — it’s all there. At times, it reminded me of Alison Bechdel’s things, because in many ways that’s my formative experience of this kind of graphic novel storytelling, at times it reminded me of the classics of Asian American women-centric literature likes of Amy Tan, but the combined language of the images and story was wholly author’s own,
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC of a Feeding Ghosts by Tessa Hulls.
But typographic woes aside, the story itself is great. So much honest thoughts about intergenerational drama, gentle humour side by side with horrors and fears, unadorned but persistent interest in untangling complex family history — it’s all there. At times, it reminded me of Alison Bechdel’s things, because in many ways that’s my formative experience of this kind of graphic novel storytelling, at times it reminded me of the classics of Asian American women-centric literature likes of Amy Tan, but the combined language of the images and story was wholly author’s own,
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC of a Feeding Ghosts by Tessa Hulls.
October 14, 2023
Words won't ever be able to do it justice - you have to read it yourself - but here's my attempt to describe this incredible graphic memoir.
Feeding Ghosts is a tender yet painful depiction of three generations of Chinese women and their shared (and diverging) history. The story closely follows their complicated relationships based on values such as duty, obligation, fear and identity as shaped by their respective native cultures, and fearlessly tackles brutal stories of mental illness, intergenerational trauma and heartbreaking historical events that contributed to them.
This isn't a regular comic. Expect the text to be in the spotlight - it's extensively researched from a historical and sociological perspective, well-written, and on par with the spectacular illustrations that accompany it throughout.
There's a handy timeline at the beginning of the book detailing the events in chronological order for easy referencing. The book is also full of real quotes and photographs that provide context. It's very respectful by - to paraphrase the author - letting people speak for themselves, and recognizing individual truths. This allows the reader to draw their own conclusions and makes it so much easier to empathize with each of the characters in turn.
This was both a relatable and emotional read for me. Can't recommend it enough.
✨ Disclaimer ✨ I received a free copy of this book and this is my honest review.
Feeding Ghosts is a tender yet painful depiction of three generations of Chinese women and their shared (and diverging) history. The story closely follows their complicated relationships based on values such as duty, obligation, fear and identity as shaped by their respective native cultures, and fearlessly tackles brutal stories of mental illness, intergenerational trauma and heartbreaking historical events that contributed to them.
This isn't a regular comic. Expect the text to be in the spotlight - it's extensively researched from a historical and sociological perspective, well-written, and on par with the spectacular illustrations that accompany it throughout.
There's a handy timeline at the beginning of the book detailing the events in chronological order for easy referencing. The book is also full of real quotes and photographs that provide context. It's very respectful by - to paraphrase the author - letting people speak for themselves, and recognizing individual truths. This allows the reader to draw their own conclusions and makes it so much easier to empathize with each of the characters in turn.
This was both a relatable and emotional read for me. Can't recommend it enough.
✨ Disclaimer ✨ I received a free copy of this book and this is my honest review.
December 11, 2023
3.5 Stars
This is a powerful graphic novel memoir about three generations of Chinese women and their journey through mental health conditions, trauma and communist China to the present day. It is both moving and painful but the story is also gripping.
Tessa Hulls tells the story of her Chinese grandmother, Sun Yi; her mother, Rose; and herself. Each one of them grapples with issues of identity, trauma and trying to find how to live amongst the challenges of Communist China, Hong Kong as refugees, and the USA as immigrants but also as a mixed heritage American.
It is an epic journey which explores the impact of the Communist revolution on these three women and how that impact affected the health of the grandmother but also left marks on Tessa’s mother and shaped the fraught relationship between Tessa and her mother.
It is a dark and painful story with glimpses of light as Tessa and her mother explore their lives together. The artwork captures this because it is mostly black and white with dark tones. This highlights the difficulties and trauma that both women travel through. It is hard to read but it is also hopeful as both Tessa and her mother seek to comes to terms with their past and with each other.
It is a gripping read, slight too long for me but one that is engaging. If you like memoirs then this book is excellent, especial in the way it weaves in the horrors of the communist regime in China.
Copy provided in exchange for an unbiased review.
This is a powerful graphic novel memoir about three generations of Chinese women and their journey through mental health conditions, trauma and communist China to the present day. It is both moving and painful but the story is also gripping.
Tessa Hulls tells the story of her Chinese grandmother, Sun Yi; her mother, Rose; and herself. Each one of them grapples with issues of identity, trauma and trying to find how to live amongst the challenges of Communist China, Hong Kong as refugees, and the USA as immigrants but also as a mixed heritage American.
It is an epic journey which explores the impact of the Communist revolution on these three women and how that impact affected the health of the grandmother but also left marks on Tessa’s mother and shaped the fraught relationship between Tessa and her mother.
It is a dark and painful story with glimpses of light as Tessa and her mother explore their lives together. The artwork captures this because it is mostly black and white with dark tones. This highlights the difficulties and trauma that both women travel through. It is hard to read but it is also hopeful as both Tessa and her mother seek to comes to terms with their past and with each other.
It is a gripping read, slight too long for me but one that is engaging. If you like memoirs then this book is excellent, especial in the way it weaves in the horrors of the communist regime in China.
Copy provided in exchange for an unbiased review.
April 24, 2024
Feeding Ghosts is an obsessively thoughtful, well-written, and evocatively drawn deep dive into the dysfunctional relationship between a daughter (Tessa Hull, the author), Tessa's mother, and Tessa's mentally ill grandmother. A chilling detour into recent Chinese history, the likely source of Tessa's grandmother's mental illness, deftly illustrates the stunning damage a one single man, one terrible leader, can inflict upon a nation and its people.
An obvious labour of love, many years in the making, Feeding Ghosts comes from a place of great passion and pain. Relationships are fraught as mothers, daughters and cultures clash, and not everyone gets a happy ending, but compassion and understanding are ultimately, after much effort, attainable.
Men are given short shrift. They are almost entirely absent in this account; most that do have the misfortune to appear are (literally) drawn as some combination of selfish, pathetic and lazy, with some philanthropic exceptions. Despite this caveat, Feeding Ghosts remains insightful, illuminating, and compulsively readable.
A work of this depth and insight demands no fewer than 5 stars.
An obvious labour of love, many years in the making, Feeding Ghosts comes from a place of great passion and pain. Relationships are fraught as mothers, daughters and cultures clash, and not everyone gets a happy ending, but compassion and understanding are ultimately, after much effort, attainable.
Men are given short shrift. They are almost entirely absent in this account; most that do have the misfortune to appear are (literally) drawn as some combination of selfish, pathetic and lazy, with some philanthropic exceptions. Despite this caveat, Feeding Ghosts remains insightful, illuminating, and compulsively readable.
A work of this depth and insight demands no fewer than 5 stars.
October 19, 2023
Feeding Ghosts is a creative, well-written, well-researched memoir. Tessa Hulls spent 6 years working on this this captivating work of art. The illustrations are detailed and beautiful. Hulls weaves in history, humor and saddness in this epic story of three generations of women.
She shares the challenges that her grandmother and mother faced and the impact that these challenges have had on their relationships. I learned so much about Chinese history, identity and the struggles of immigration in this book. The word epic is overused but in this case, I believe epic is truly an approrpriate word to describe this incredible graphic novel. I highly recommend it!
Thank you to NetGalley and Farrar, Straus and Giroux for an advanced reader copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
She shares the challenges that her grandmother and mother faced and the impact that these challenges have had on their relationships. I learned so much about Chinese history, identity and the struggles of immigration in this book. The word epic is overused but in this case, I believe epic is truly an approrpriate word to describe this incredible graphic novel. I highly recommend it!
Thank you to NetGalley and Farrar, Straus and Giroux for an advanced reader copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
April 30, 2024
This is an impressive and incredibly raw graphic memoir that addresses Chinese history, Mao's regime, mother/daughter relationships, psychoses, mixed race ancestry, fighting against/connecting with one's past, charting an individual path, and much more.
The author said she spend about 10 years writing this book and it shows - she has mined a lot of history and personal and family pain to reach some level of understanding and catharsis. This is not a slight book - clocking in at almost 400 pages, it is dense both in terms of words and visuals.
Two things stood out for me in the book:
1) The graphics are excellent. I truly can't imagine how much time it takes to put every one of these pages together, replete as they are with emotion and detail.
2) The author does not provide easy answers, either to us or to herself.
This book is a testament to how effective the genre can be.
The author said she spend about 10 years writing this book and it shows - she has mined a lot of history and personal and family pain to reach some level of understanding and catharsis. This is not a slight book - clocking in at almost 400 pages, it is dense both in terms of words and visuals.
Two things stood out for me in the book:
1) The graphics are excellent. I truly can't imagine how much time it takes to put every one of these pages together, replete as they are with emotion and detail.
2) The author does not provide easy answers, either to us or to herself.
This book is a testament to how effective the genre can be.
March 27, 2024
Feeding ghosts is stunning both visually, and in the ideas and emotions it so clearly explores. Hulls expertly (and amazingly) intertwines her family's story with the Chinese history that served as the wellspring of much of the trauma and peril that has haunted three generations. It is a story that is vey specific to her family history, but also filled with insights that anyone can gain insight from. I found myself frequently noting passages that perfectly summed up painful parent-child dynamics and reflecting on the ways that I have coped with parental expectations and imperfections. I would recommend it for just about anyone who likes history, art, touching family stories, or really just enjoys a compelling story.
April 29, 2024
I got to go to Tessa Hulls’ book talk in Brooklyn and was sold from that experience alone.
This is my first foray into graphic novels but I fear this was a mistake as potentially no others will be able to compare? 9 years in the making and you can tell from how dense this story is visually, historically, emotionally. What an intense but riveting family history that intertwines in a frequently eery way with Chinese history. It just makes so much sense to have such a rich story told through both illustration and text.
4.5 stars, -0.5 for somewhat trite commentary about the mixed race experience (but maybe this is a necessary result of writing something for 9 years, as discourse evolves throughout)
This is my first foray into graphic novels but I fear this was a mistake as potentially no others will be able to compare? 9 years in the making and you can tell from how dense this story is visually, historically, emotionally. What an intense but riveting family history that intertwines in a frequently eery way with Chinese history. It just makes so much sense to have such a rich story told through both illustration and text.
4.5 stars, -0.5 for somewhat trite commentary about the mixed race experience (but maybe this is a necessary result of writing something for 9 years, as discourse evolves throughout)
December 26, 2023
felt like a history lesson with dialogue. surrealist art was a very nice touch (especially with the ghost twin concept). the story itself was great, however the execution not as good as i would have hoped.
LOTS of info / history crammed into 60 pages (makes sense, it was over a decade of research going into the book) but to me felt overwhelming at times. the graphics definitely helped enhance the experience for the reader, but story almost felt rushed? or too fast paced?
maybe i’m just too used to literary nonfiction that takes its time to delve into the nuances of the story, and of the self.
still a great read that helped expand my reading horizons & understanding of chinese history!
LOTS of info / history crammed into 60 pages (makes sense, it was over a decade of research going into the book) but to me felt overwhelming at times. the graphics definitely helped enhance the experience for the reader, but story almost felt rushed? or too fast paced?
maybe i’m just too used to literary nonfiction that takes its time to delve into the nuances of the story, and of the self.
still a great read that helped expand my reading horizons & understanding of chinese history!
March 25, 2024
This was absolutely fantastic. Historically, I gained insight and understanding of the communist revolution in China that I previously lacked. Culturally, this book (and the memoir “What My Bones Know”) have given a deeper understanding of the biracial experience in America, particularly that of the Chinese diaspora and the weight of model minority element of colonialism in particular, in a more nuanced way then I had before. Emotionally, unexpectedly, this book was hammer. The way the exploration of inter generational trauma between mothers and daughters plays out was very raw and insightful, meaningful, and helpful.
April 8, 2024
This is, unabashedly, a masterpiece. And it's a damn shame that Tessa Hulls insists she'll never write another book, because I would read a brochure about snails from her. Her work is meticulous, intelligent, all-encompassing.
The biggest praise I can give a graphic novel is that it's a whole story. So often I'm left with beautiful art but a whisper of plot. THIS IS THE REAL DEAL. Hulls spent almost ten years researching and writing this memoir. She tells the stories of three generation of women, their full histories, their dynamics, the whole goddamn history of China -- I have quite possibly never read something that so clearly lays out intergenerational trauma, and if it is possible to heal.
She's currently on book tour and posting a lot of reviews that have been published about her novel. She loves pointing out that so much of publishing is picking out the golden eggs, of shining a false spotlight on only the positive. As a counterbalance, she loves featuring reviews with constructive criticism, the reviews that point out the flaws.
I can find no flaws. I loved this book.
The biggest praise I can give a graphic novel is that it's a whole story. So often I'm left with beautiful art but a whisper of plot. THIS IS THE REAL DEAL. Hulls spent almost ten years researching and writing this memoir. She tells the stories of three generation of women, their full histories, their dynamics, the whole goddamn history of China -- I have quite possibly never read something that so clearly lays out intergenerational trauma, and if it is possible to heal.
She's currently on book tour and posting a lot of reviews that have been published about her novel. She loves pointing out that so much of publishing is picking out the golden eggs, of shining a false spotlight on only the positive. As a counterbalance, she loves featuring reviews with constructive criticism, the reviews that point out the flaws.
I can find no flaws. I loved this book.
April 6, 2024
The amount of history in this book was dense but all so necessary. I’m going to be thinking about this book for a very long time. It’s just so remarkably well written and illustrated. She weaves her family history with Chinese history. I hope to someday gain this type of understanding about my parent’s and grandparent’s life experiences. This book was so well researched and executed it is remarkable. This book captures such a difficult part of my reality as the child of immigrants-i of carry so many ghosts that unwillingly became mine and trying to now sift through what’s mine/not is a massive undertaking.
April 22, 2024
Intense read, with several triggers. Not meant for the sensitive reader, or someone just starting into graphic novels. The style of illustrations are both what makes and breaks things. The black and white gives the tone of things, but everything can blend together, especially when the author uses words as the illustrations/within them. A few fourth wall breaks can stop the flow of things, but overall this is an interesting and informative book. Tense at times, the author also is writing a love letter to herself and her family, in particular her grandmother and mother. Reminiscent of Radical: My Year with a Socialist Senator by Sofia Warren.
April 29, 2024
In this deeply personal graphic memoir Tessa Hulls examines the generational trauma in her family that stems from her grandmother's experience in China during the Cultural Revolution. Hulls looks at her mother's life fending for herself in boarding school in Hong Kong and Hulls' own experiences growing up in Northern California where her childhood was shaped by ghosts from the past.
Hulls illustrations are gorgeous and the writing is incredible. Hulls deftly navigates that her mother’s perceptions of truth and her own are not the same, and will never be. She finds compassion and healing through the writing experience. This is my favorite read of 2024 so far; I expect it will win awards. I savored each page and look forward to re-reading this one.
Hulls illustrations are gorgeous and the writing is incredible. Hulls deftly navigates that her mother’s perceptions of truth and her own are not the same, and will never be. She finds compassion and healing through the writing experience. This is my favorite read of 2024 so far; I expect it will win awards. I savored each page and look forward to re-reading this one.
March 19, 2024
Tessa Hulls' memoir was filled with heartbreaking honesty and she did not shy away from discussing everything she and her family endured, including generational trauma, mental illness, and codependent relationships between a parent and their child. She mentioned a few times throughout the book that it took years for her to write it; the amount of research that went into this memoir is incredible. I usually don't rate memoirs, but Tessa Hulls deserves more than five stars for everything she's accomplished.
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