Broken Frontier

A young lady finds her life turned upside down when she becomes entangled in the life of an illegal alien.

Novgorodoff’s Slow Storm is a complex narrative that uses the Kentucky Derby and a coming storm to illustrate that life itself is a turbulent state of being. She offers no easy answers, because, as we all know, there are no easy solutions to this particular puzzle.

Ursa is a young firefighter that answers the call of a burning farm. Rafi, a migrant farm worker, happens to call this barn home. When he is found, he is reluctant to receive the medical assistance that he obviously needs. This clues in our young woman that maybe he is here under the radar of our government.

There is some clever juxtaposition here. Both characters have something to hide, the question is, whose crime is the more evil, Rafi’s lack of a proper visa or the secret that Rafi and her brother are hiding?

The story takes place after the Kentucky Derby and horses are featured elsewhere in the book. This is the analogy that is hard to grasp. Is the race merely a distraction or is it more a way to show that humans understand as little about their destination - running in circles and doing their best to follow the given instructions?

The storm itself is a little easier to decode, as it ebbs and flows throughout the piece. It reaches a fervor before Rafi comes clean and then starts to rebuild as Ursa begins a self deception in ernest. The literary devices are more a means to and end. They point out a thoughtful, careful script, but the richness of the story lies in the characters.

The interaction between the two leads brings them to talk. We learn that Rafi has made a hard decision to come to America for the chance to provide a better life for his family back home. His solitude was a careful choice. Meanwhile, Ursa has alienated herself from her family by fighting what they expect from her and refusing to communicate. Her choice was not as hard to make, in fact she kind of just lets it occur. Her loneliness is much her own doing and her family is close by.

The two form an uneasy bond through the circumstances that bring them together and these talks. It seems unlikely at first, but it seems genuine, perhaps because they are both so alone. Their openness with each other is an incredible thing to watch unfold. As they learn about themselves, the reader comes to realize that his own preconceptions may indeed be misconceptions. Novgorodoff chooses to make the line between good and bad indecipherable. She doesn’t judge her characters or their actions. Instead, the reader gets to decide what is right and what is wrong.

Ursa and Rafi are merely humans and their struggle speaks to the very nature of our being. The fight can come from fires or storms. It may come from running from one’s responsibility or it may come from facing up to the same. The wisdom of this tome, is that the author understands that life doesn’t always have a neat, artistic conclusion. Sometimes, it just goes on. The ambiguous ending that is presented here shows that wisdom. This ending is not because she is incapable of writing a satisfactory finale, but because she knows that it is an honest reflection of how life really is.

The book is illustrated with a kinetic line that allows for a feeling of movement while enhancing the emotional content of the script. The water colors and dreamlike quality of the piece make it stand out from the other books of the mundane that tend to be black and white. There is no mainstream hyper-rendered art here, instead there is a grittiness that plays well with the honesty of the graphic novel. Just as the words do, the art presents a picture of us in a mirror. Sometimes what we see is not the easiest thing to take in.

Beyond the complexities of the theme, Slow Storm also examines emotion and metaphysics. It is at its base a reflection of the human condition. Rich with metaphor and magic realism, Novgorodoff makes an impressive debut. This is a literary graphic novel that belongs on the shelf of any serious reader, no matter its medium.