Attracted to this by the lovely, painted art of Rebecca Guay (whose art in the books of White Wolf's Changeling won me too her), 'Veils' turned out to be quite a piece of work -- I don't think it's the future of comics by any shot, and I found the photo/computer rendered art awkward and often flat and lifeless in comparison to Guay's gorgeous styling...

But to say the least, the story was sound if somewhat predictable, and heavy with Empowered And Transformed woman, but it wasn't bad-- but it was definitely short a five star rating. (More like 3 1/2, but...) Still, give it a shot, it is quite pretty in places at the very least. ( )

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An Englishwoman is invited to the Sultan's palace and hears a strange tale of a slave who became the mother of a sultan. Her visits anger her husband and father-in-law, the British Consul. They plan to ship her back to England, but she flees and is offerred a very different future. ( )

When I first saw it, I was dubious of the unusual art style. Once I started reading, i couldn't put it down. It's the fascinating story of a young newlywed Englishwoman who travels to the Middle East with her new husband, and what she finds there. ( )

The book uses photographs (as well as digital and painted artwork) of elaborate sets and costumed actors to carry the story, presenting a richly textured Victorian colonial style and exuding a lush, Middle Eastern mystique. It's a seamless blend of evocative, sensous photography that merges with digitally generated backgrounds to create a surprisingly real time and place of long ago or far away. In short, it evokes a mythic, Arabian Nights-like landscape of the mind's imaginings. The artwork alone is enough to make you read this graphic novel.

Vivian, a young English housewife, accompanies her insufferable husband on a diplomatic mission to an un-named Arabic country. There, they happen upon the local slave market, where Vivian becomes fascinated by a female slave.

Later, visiting the sultan along with her husband, Vivian is invited, quite improbably, to visit the royal harem. It really begins, though, when women of the East meet a woman of the West. There she hears the story of Rosalind, a white aristocrat kipnapped into the harem years before.

For years, woman are preceived in certain ways and must uphold their appearance and thoughts in a certain way to uphold their status. Well, Veils does the opposite. It allows the protagonist the daring decision to liberate her feminity and desires and in the process, sheds all her outer burdens. Truely literary and deep. Deals with the orient, feminism, and of course male domination on the female body.

The story is all about dualities: rank vs. power, public vs. closed societies, and real vs. fable, to name just a few. The dualities are so much sharper for being so close beside each other, as close and as far away as the harem behind the women's door.

Veils is a tale of eroticism and intrigue, and also something of a psychological mystery. It's up to you to peel away the veils -- one by one -- to learn the potentially deadly truth.

Book Details:

Title Veils
Author Pat McGreal
Reviewed By Purplycookie ( )