Palimpsest

In her memoir, Palimpsest, Lisa Wool-Rim Sjoblom explores her complex feelings about her adoption, challenging the notion of it as a humanitarian act and revealing the truth behind her own history.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 160 pages
Publication date: 26 February 2019
Publisher: Drawn and Quarterly

In the 1970s and 1980s, a significant number of South Korean children found new homes worldwide through adoption. Among them was Lisa Wool-Rim Sjoblom, a renowned cartoonist who was adopted at the age of two. However, her journey was not without challenges. Growing up in Sweden, Sjoblom struggled to fit into the predominantly homogeneous Swedish culture, often feeling like an outsider. Despite being repeatedly told to suppress her innate desire to know her origins, Sjoblom couldn't shake off the feeling of abandonment.

In her emotionally charged memoir, Palimpsest, Sjoblom finally confronts the unaddressed feelings about her adoption. When she becomes pregnant with her first child, she discovers a document containing the names of her biological parents. This revelation challenges the narrative she had been told her entire life—that she was an orphan without a background.

Determined to uncover the truth, Sjoblom embarks on a journey back to Korea and the orphanage where she was raised. What she finds is far more complicated than the story she had been led to believe. The sacred image of adoption as a humanitarian act that gives parents to orphans begins to unravel. Sjoblom's beautiful autumnal tones and clear-line style belie the intricate nature of this graphic memoir's vital central question: Who owns the story of an adoption?

Through her personal narrative, Sjoblom sheds light on the complexities and nuances of adoption, challenging the assumptions and stereotypes often associated with it. She explores the emotional toll it takes on both adoptees and their biological families, as well as the societal pressures and expectations that come with it. Palimpsest is a powerful testament to the resilience and determination of adoptees, who refuse to be defined by their past and seek to reclaim their own stories.

In conclusion, Lisa Wool-Rim Sjoblom's Palimpsest is a must-read for anyone interested in adoption, identity, and the search for truth. Through her poignant storytelling, Sjoblom invites us to reconsider the narratives we accept about ourselves and others, and to recognize the importance of owning our own stories.

Weight: 482g
Dimension: 172 x 234 x 18 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781770463301