Broken Frontier

A whirlwind romance and fast marriage leads Alissa to believe that she is at the start of a wonderful life, but when her newlywed husband is killed in the attacks on September 11, 2001, she finds herself widowed, pregnant and in a nightmare.

Alissa Torres doesn’t pull any punches in this memoir of how that fateful day affected her life. She willingly lets the reader know that she and her husband argued the night and morning before his life ended. She shows the hate she felt in knowing how he died and then realizing that her worst fears were true. She is also unafraid to portray the government and their various agencies in all their ineptitude.

There are bits of humor here and there, relieving the reader from what could be an oppressive read. Torres understands that this is heavy material and a certain amount of levity, even the biting satire of the President of the United States of America sitting at his oval office desk reading a reading primer, is needed to keep the reader engaged with the story.

The reason there needs to be a break is that from the very first page, the events of that day are thrust back into the reader’s mind. It is an emotional journey that is only endurable from the healing power of time. It is certain that the writing of this book provided a certain amount of closure for the author as she was given the chance to excise her own demons and possibly expose some of the evil done her in the following years.

It is hard to imagine a more painful story for a young woman, to be widowed with an unborn child bulging from the maternity clothes. Suddenly, all the plans that she had were ripped from her. Of course, numerous agencies and her husband’s employer seem to want to help, but an endless ribbon of red tape and destroyed records make it hard for her to get what has been promised.

She fights within the system to get the company to acknowledge her husband’s existence and to get the aid that was promised her. However, as the years go on, the agencies that were once so ready to give a helping hand become tired of having to deal with this woman, who because of an understandable bout with depression, both post mortem and post pregnancy, and dealing with red tape is unable to do much of anything. She is a single mother who finds herself at the mercy of people who want to give her the run around.

When the paperwork is not her enemy, the media pounces on her wanting to exploit her, her baby, and the events of that day. All the while, society as a whole seems to turn against her, viewing the families of the dead as vultures who instead of getting back to their life want to get a hand out. Unfortunately for Alissa her life was destroyed and without the young life dependent on her, it is unsure if she could have risen above the black hole of despair that wanted to consume her.

The book is illustrated by Sungyoon Choi who has worked as a cartoonist for the New York Times . She brings the book the richness of emotion and fine cartooning that makes the graphic novel a complete package. There are portraits of the main character that will break a sympathetic reader’s heart. The eyes given to the black and white version of the author are a haunting portrait of her soul.

Torres gives us a brutal portrait of the life of a survivor. It is powerful, emotional and true both in its story and its impact on the reader. This is the kind of book that deserves every award it will most undoubtedly receive.