Briony Hatch – review

Graphic novel Briony Hatch is published by East London publishers Limehouse Books

In Briony Hatch, a new coming of age graphic novel published this month by small East London publisher Limehouse Books, the eponymous heroine scrawls a list in her diary under the heading: “Why being Starling Black would be better than being me.”

The reasons are plenty. Starling has lustrous hair, whereas Briony’s is frizzy; Starling has the power to exorcise ghosts and Briony does not; Starling has “sexual tension with a wide variety of men” and Briony, well, does not.

The problem is, Starling is just a fictional character in a trilogy of fantasy novels.

When Briony finishes her book, hiding in the school toilets, she is distraught. Now the literary portal to a magical world has been slammed shut, who will rescue her from her bungalow in suburbia and the sobering task of growing up?

The confessional style of Briony’s writing will strike a chord with anyone who ever had the ill-advised idea of keeping a journal (endless lists, anyone?).

Briony Hatch’s authors, sisters Ginny and Penelope Skinner, balance that strange blend of teen narcissism and angst to perfection.

Drawn in black and white, the drawings shift in style according to the world they are portraying, flamboyant and detailed for the imaginary adventures of Starling Black and stark and simple for Briony’s ‘real life’.

Deeper explanations for Briony’s fixation with the realms of fantasy, such as her parents’ divorce and feelings of her own inadequacy, begin to emerge as Briony suffers from a bout of teenage depression.

Gradually, with help from her mum and the ghost of her great-aunt, Briony gives the real world a go.

The last of her lists is “Reasons why real boys are better than ghosts” shows Briony rejoining the land of the living and doing what teenage girls do best – looking at boys on the bus and experimenting with her hair colour.

But anyone who has ever experienced the bittersweet sadness at reaching the end of a book, or who remembers the dawning realisation that some magical boarding school or small people living under the floorboards were never real after all, will be charmed by Briony Hatch and her refusal to give up on magic.

Briony Hatch by Ginny and Penelope Skinner is published by Limehouse Books. ISBN: 9781907536144. RRP: £12.99