Ethel & Ernest is a completely charming graphic biography about the lives of Briggs’s parents from their meeting in 1928 until their deaths in 1971. The drawings are delightful, and the characters of the two emerge from the story.
Ethel is a lady’s maid and Ernest is a milkman when they meet. They marry two years later. The book shows their upward mobility starting with their purchase of a house that actually has a bathroom, to their astonishment, and continuing with their modifications and additions of appliances. Ernest is staunchly working class and pro-labor, while Ethel has pretentions to more, but through all, they are loving.
Through childbirth, World War II, and the Blitz, the privations of post-World War II Britain, and so on, the couple stick together and remain loving. The book has quite a bit of humor to it and is also touching. I was charmed by it.
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I don’t often read graphic novels, but this sounds lovely!
I only read them occasionally, but this one is really nice.
I’m surprised this was on your radar as it seems quite a niche British story (then again, you read lots of low-profile English stuff). It was also made into an animated movie. I enjoyed that but haven’t read the book.
Oh, that’s nice. I didn’t know about the movie. I think I must have read someone’s review of it.
I was going to mention the film as well: charming and memorable. The book I tried years ago but just wasn’t in quite the right mood at the time; I’d like to revisit it now, though.
It’s a sweet testimony to his parents.
This sounds great. I remember him from his fantastic illustrated children’s books when I was young.
I wasn’t aware of him before reading this.