For my latest column at Comics Should Be Good, I reviewed the debut volumes of two (relatively) new Natsume Ono series: House of Five Leaves and Gente: The People of Ristorante Paradiso. I really loved House of Five Leaves, with its story of a hapless samurai drawn into the schemes of a fascinating criminal. Gente is more a collection of low-key short stories than a single … [Read more...] about Two by Natsume Ono
Natsume Ono
Ristorante Paradiso by Natsume Ono: B+
Twenty-one-year-old Nicoletta arrives in Rome with the intention of confronting her absentee mother, Olga, and revealing the fact of her existence to Olga’s husband, Lorenzo, who had believed his wife to be childless. Instead, she becomes entranced by her mother’s world and ultimately finds a place in it. Olga and Lorenzo run a restaurant, and though the food is excellent, … [Read more...] about Ristorante Paradiso by Natsume Ono: B+
not simple by Natsume Ono: A
From the back cover: A story within a story, A book within a book, A tale about the search for family, For an emotional home. Ian, a young man with a fractured family history, travels from Australia to England to America in the hope of realizing his dreams and reuniting with his beloved sister. His story unfolds backwards through the framing narrative of Jim, a reporter driven … [Read more...] about not simple by Natsume Ono: A