This is one of those books that I have no idea how it ended up on my tbr. (Confused the author with Carmen Laforet, maybe?) Not particularly well written but it is a coming-of-age tale of a woman loving another woman and the many places that brings her (a monastery, fascism, communism). Undercurrent of sexism never being taken seriously in any of these environments and how badly the protagonist wants to find peace someplace, which never happens. Didn’t really care for Claudia’s obsession with Amada, gets weird about Egyptians at the end, had uninspired comparisons of religion to political parties, but I was kinda into the whole “seducing nuns” subplot.

The paucity of autobiographical (as well as biographical texts) on black communist women remains a cause for concern. The larger attempts by the state to silence these women along with the relative "neglect" in the identification of these texts present the false picture that black radical women were — and still are — lone, brave, Promethean figures. (203)

This is an academic text - very dry and repetitive, but at least Davies does not make it inaccessible. I found myself wanting a collected works of Claudia Jones instead, but that’s not what this is, and that also doesn’t exist. What this does is put Jones in perspective while also lauding her impact on the transnational communist movement.

The author references Anna Julia Cooper and that’s exactly who Jones reminded me of- just with a completely different political ideology. Like Cooper, Jones was a champion for black women, essentially stating that no one would be free if black women were not free. This is not just a slogan, but because black women are at the three points of marginalization: gender, race, and the most exploited workers. Unless all aspects of that oppression are addressed, liberation is not possible. This is why Davies states Jones is left of Karl Marx (beyond the literal fact that she is buried next to him), as she includes culture in tandem with the revolution, not as secondary or something to worry about after victory.

This is what is meant by "deportation" - the respectable name for the medieval punishment of banishment that has long since been abandoned in every other civilized country. (141)

Jones entire debacle of getting imprisoned and then deported felt especially timely to read. I think Davies does a great job explaining the tool of deportation by the United States to punish revolutionaries and how it severed movements from their leaders quite effectively. I also enjoyed the discussion about diaspora and exile, and how Jones took her exile in London as a new challenge. It emphasized the global struggle and how dedicated Jones was in fighting against that - and also not being shy about the Marxist-Leninist origins of such a battle.

P.S. this book is how I found out Raleigh Ritchie’s lyric: there’s no black in the Union Jack is not just a #bar but a reference to Paul Gilroy’s work. Sick.

The text to illustration ratio of this is the craziest imbalance I’ve ever seen in a graphic novel. And while I appreciate the skill with the ballpoint pen illustrations, I do not appreciate Siciliano’s choice to depict Gentileschi’s assault on page. In general I’m not sure if a graphic novel is quite the medium for our author, and I think the court proceedings took up too much space.

Anyways! I was actually pretty inspired by this work. Siciliano goes on long tangents about other men that intersect with Gentileschi’s life, and also about the international religious war happening, but I came around to enjoying this extra context. I find the Counter-Reformation a fascinating concept - that the Catholic Church fought against the Protestant drabness by tapping in and exploiting people’s reactions to art… while also dialing up tyranny and torture - there’s elements there to play with, creatively.

I find the history of Gentileschi also fascinating. The fact that she went to court to condemn her rapist, and then actually win that case, all in the 1600s, is something to sit with. Comparing the difference in Caravaggio’s Judith Beheading Holofernes versus Gentileschi’s version… chefs kiss. (Go look it up rn!)

I also liked the other historical figures I learned through this, namely Masaniello and Tarabotti. Wouldn’t really recommend this for entertainment purposes but definitely a lot to learn!