Disclaimer: Some links in my review for Shadow Life by Hiromi Goto are affiliate links. If you click them to make a purchase, I will earn a commission. Whether or not you buy something is completely up to you.

A version of this book review first appeared in The Lesbrary.

Summary of Shadow Life

Kumiko, a 76-year-old widow, leaves the assisted living facility her adult daughters put her in because it just wasn’t for her. She wants to maintain as much independence as possible for as long as she can. She feels death coming for her, but it’s too soon. So, when death’s shadow tries to take her before her time, Kumiko fights back.

Plot

The story focuses mostly on Kumiko’s battle with the shadow of Death that has come to take her away. But threaded throughout, you also get a glimpse of her relationship with her daughters in the present and flashbacks of her time with her husband, who died in a car accident.

For anyone who has dealt with being a caretaker of an older parent or grandparent, it’s easy to understand the daughter’s perspective, seeing how easily frustrated she is with Kumiko. But in telling the story from Kumiko’s point of view, Goto brings a lot of empathy for the parent’s point of view. Kumiko wants to live her life, even though she will soon start needing more help and supervision.

Character Development

It’s so refreshing to see an older bisexual character. I have not come across many older characters in general, let alone queer ones, but maybe I’m not reading the right books. Regardless, Kumiko is a delightful main character. She’s quirky and saucy in a way that you can see how she charms some people and irritates others.

As Kumiko battles Death’s shadow, we get a fun cast of characters that includes a surly vacuum storekeeper and her sweet neighbor who looks out for her.

She also reunites with her old flame, Alice. It’s here that the story reveals her bisexuality, even to her daughters. Her eldest is taken by surprise, but they don’t make a big deal out of her sexuality itself, so much as the fact that she never told them. Kumiko asserts that she didn’t hide it; she simply never discussed her past relationships.

Artwork

Ann Xu illustrated this graphic novel. I’m not usually captivated by black-and-white comics, but in this case, it works. And most of the graphic novel takes place through the panel artwork with very little dialogue.

There’s one moment that stands out to convey and affirm Kumiko’s identity as a Japanese Canadian woman, a panel that includes dialogue in Japanese characters and provides no translation. At this moment, the reader becomes an outsider in the way that people marginalized by white, English-speaking cultures are usually othered.

Even though I have no idea what words were spoken there, I didn’t need to. It didn’t detract from the overall story.

Conclusion & Rating for Shadow Life

No spoilers for how it ends, but all in all, a bewitching tale with fun characters you feel invested in. It’s a strange and fascinating story. It’s such an intriguing storyline about who or what death is and how she knows it’s not her time to go yet. Overall, a fast and easy read.

Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

You can buy Shadow Life here.