Graphic Novelty²

The attack mounted by Amir’s former clan on the Eihon’s village has left most of the town in disrepair. Pariya’s family home was destroyed, along with all her bridal linens. It’s a lifetime’s work to build embroidered linens for a bride’s dowry, started from the time a girl is old enough to hold a needle and thread, and it’s all gone. Pariya has to start all over again. Even with the help of Amir and her family, for which she’s very grateful, Pariya feels more anxious than ever about marriage. She finally has a suitor who’s interested in her, but now their wedding has to be delayed. What if Umar decides he doesn’t want to wait? Or he decides that Pariya’s strong personality isn’t what he’s looking for in a wife? Pariya decides to watch Kamola, another girl in the village, and try to learn from her. Kamola is everything that a girl should be (and everything Pariya is not): kind, patient, soft-spoken. Maybe if Pariya tries to be more like Kamola, she can be the perfect bride.

As promised in the last volume, we make a return to Amir and Karluk’s village, and Pariya’s story specifically, with this installment. As I’m now in the year of my own wedding, with so much more to be done before the big day (EEK!!!), I sympathized greatly with Pariya’s anxieties. Though I’m fortunate enough to not have lost all my bridal linens in a fire, there are so many tasks to be done and things to put in place that it’s at times extraordinarily overwhelming. We learn here that it’s okay to be overwhelmed, we have friends ready and willing to help us in times of need, and that starting is truly the hardest part of getting anything done.

One thing I’ve grown to appreciate over the course of this series is the variety in the personalities of the main characters. Pariya is headstrong, outspoken, and often brusque – but it doesn’t mean she’s a bad person, or wouldn’t make a suitable wife. Amir is more motherly; firm yet gentle, patient, and always willing to teach and learn from others. We meet Kamola, a foil to Pariya’s character, near the end of this volume; I’m greatly looking forward to seeing how these two interact with and learn from each other.

As ever, looking forward to the next volume! I think this is the furthest I’ve ever gotten in a manga! =P

– Kathleen

Mori, Kaoru. A Bride’s Story (Vol. 8). 2016.

Hello and welcome to the last post of 2019!

We follow Mr. Smith once again in this volume, as his travels take him to the home of a wealthy merchant in Persia. Though the merchant has a wife named Anis, it’s customary for the brides of Persia to never show their faces to men outside the family, so they never meet. However, Mr. Smith learns much about Persian culture and customs for his research, and Anis learns much about Mr. Smith and England from her husband. Though Anis has a child, and is very happy with married life, she is lonely and desires female companionship. Mahfu, her child’s nurse, suggests Anis accompany her to the women’s public baths, so she might meet other women. There Anis meets Sherine, a woman who reminds her of a cat: beautiful and aloof, but still a warm person underneath. They immediately hit it off, prompting Anis to ask Sherine to become her avowed sister. Will Sherine accept?

Mori goes into a little more detail about avowed sisters in the epilogue to this volume. Apparently, avowed sisters were a custom among Persian women somewhere between the seventeenth and nineteenth centuries. It was almost like a marriage, but between two women. They usually spent a year in each other’s company before one asked the other to be her avowed sister. Upon accepting the offer, a ceremony was performed in front of many witnesses, wherein the two women swore to be devoted friends for life.

I thought that was wonderful! I loved this volume because it highlighted the close friendships women can form with each other! It’s so important to see friends love each other so deeply and be able to express that love for one another! Plus, I learned something new, which is always exciting! XD

The extraordinary detail usually found in Mori’s artwork was a bit toned down for this volume. Much of the story takes place in the women’s baths, as Anis and Sherine get to know each other, so the backgrounds are hazy and steamy without much detail. There is a much higher level of nudity in this volume because of the setting, but it’s never inappropriate.

There is a short story at the end of this volume that takes place between Karluk’s parents. It’s the cherry on top of an already sweet volume. This latest installment may have given me diabetes!!! I’ll see you all in the new year if I survive this sugar rush ;D

– Kathleen

Mori, Kaoru. A Bride’s Story (Vol. 7). 2015.

Amir’s former tribe, the Halgals, have fallen upon hard times. They had needed to get Amir back to marry her to another tribe to expand their grazing lands. Because her new family wouldn’t give her up, they now have no new grazing land, and their livestock are suffering. Amir’s father, Berkhrat, strikes a bargain with their distant cousins, the Badan clan. They will attack the Eihon village and take their grazing lands for themselves. The Badan are in possession of guns and cannons they’ve purchased from the Russians, so it should be an easy fight. Amir’s older brother, Azel, is uneasy with the eagerness with which his father accepted the bargain, and is concerned for the life of his sister, as are their cousins Joruk and Baimat. When the time comes for battle, will these 3 young men follow their elders as they are expected to?

This volume is considerably faster-paced than the manga has been so far. Mori shows versatility with both her writing and drawing here. The small, intricate details are toned down in this volume, to showcase the speed and urgency of battle, though I never found it lacking in the signature atmosphere of the series. The layout and paneling are much tighter and follow a more traditional “comic book” format, to also highlight the action.

Though of course the writing is tighter and more action-oriented as well, we still are on a close, personal level with the characters. We experience the battle from more than one vantage point, allowing us to see the whole story, and see exactly what each character is experiencing. I’m impressed that she pulled off what is essentially a character study within a battle story. If I had any doubts about her writing ability before, I certainly don’t any longer!

– Kathleen

Mori, Kaoru. A Bride’s Story (Vol. 6). 2014.

We turn our focus back on Mr. Smith in this volume, as he and his guide continue on their road to Ankara. As they skirt the Aral Sea, they are led to a fishing village by a lively pair of twins named Laila and Leily. They are of an age to marry, but their father hasn’t gotten started on making them a match yet! Since they know the kind of men they want, they decide to take their nuptials into their own hands – which, more often than not, gets them into trouble! Meanwhile, Pariya’s father has met with the father of a boy that has taken an interest in her! Pariya is extremely nervous – she likes the boy as well, but won’t her forceful personality scare him away, just like all the others?

I cannot overstate it – I adore this manga. The illustrations are so lovingly detailed, and really ground you in the setting. The only thing I didn’t like about this volume were the introduction of the twins. Their comedic relief was a bit overdone for me. The leisurely pace is still a big draw for me. Even if I wish we would meander back to Amir and Karluk at some point, the journey is still worth it.

– Kathleen

Mori, Kaoru. A Bride’s Story (Vol. 4). 2013.

In this volume, we catch up with Mr. Smith! He is a researcher from England who was a guest in the Eihon household for a long time. He departed in Vol. 2 to continue his research about the people who live on the Silk Road. He meets a young woman named Talas at the market in the next town, where he is waiting for his guide. Their horses are stolen, and upon their recovery, she invites him to stay with her and her mother-in-law. Talas had been married previously – to every one of her mother-in-law’s sons. Her mother-in-law soon gets the idea that Talas and Mr. Smith should marry! But they don’t feel romantically towards each other – or do they?

Talas’ story reminded me of Draupadi, a character in the Indian epic Mahabharata, who married all five of the Pandava brothers. The circumstances that befall their husbands are equally tragic, though both women display a certain tenacity to weather troubled times. Mr. Smith is a great character; as he learns more about the land and people as an outsider, we do too. He acts almost as a lens! The characters in this volume are drawn tenderly, and you can’t help feeling for them. The art is so detailed, intricate, and vibrant – there is a scene where everyone is eating at the public market, and my mouth was watering from the imaginary smells!

I feel like I’ve reached a record with manga – 3 volumes in and I’m still as engaged with it as when I first started! Woo hoo! Looking forward to the next volume ❤

– Kathleen

Mori, Kaoru. A Bride’s Story (Vol. 3). 2011.