TENDER HC
(W) Beth Hetland (A/CA) Beth Hetland
A psychological thriller about a woman obsessedwith her vision for a picture-perfect, curated life.
Carolanne wanted a perfect wedding, a perfect husband, a perfect
family. She carefully performs her own roles (gal pal, bestie,
girlfriend, wife, and expectant mother) and manipulates those
around her to try and get the results she wants. Her desire to control
the uncontrollable ultimately becomes her undoing. When
things don't go her way, she exerts dominance over the one thing
she does have total control over: her body; until that "betrays"
her. After suffering a horrible loss, Carolanne spirals into a literal,
all-consuming delusion causing her body to produce symptoms
of a hysterical pregnancy - because of her slicing off bits of her
own flesh and eating them.
Chicago cartoonist and educator Beth Hetland's graphic
novel debut is a brilliant psychological thriller that tears down
the wall of a genre - body horror - so often identified with male
creators. Heady and visceral, Tender uses horrific tropes to confront
women's societal expectations of self-sacrifice despite those traditional roles
often coming at the expense of female sexuality and empowerment.
