Sweden: Heartwarming and deeply original saga without preaching

Alexandra Sundqvist reviews Lena Frölander-Ulf's graphic novel, "Lysinea. The Wonderful Story of a Ship," describing it as a heartwarming and deeply original tale without didacticism. The story begins aboard the ocean liner Lysinea, which has been continuously sailing across a vast ocean in search of land since the rest of the world was flooded.

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The air in the ship's cabin feels unusually cold when the little fox cub Rusty wakes up. It is the middle of the night. Everything is strangely still. 'I feel it in my whole body. Something is wrong.'

The narrative focuses on Rusty, a young fox cub who wakes one night to a chilling stillness, sensing that something is wrong. Rusty, who has lived most of his life on Lysinea, knows the ship intimately, at least his part of it. As a second-class passenger, he has never ventured into the areas occupied by the more ostentatious birds in first class or the hardworking crocodiles in third class. Rusty and his adult companion, Bone, reside in the middle sections of the ship until the vessel begins to sink, propelling Rusty into the darkness of third class in his search for answers.

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Rusty has lived almost his entire life aboard Lysinea and knows the ship inside out. Or at least his part of it.

The plot unfolds gradually, revealing the unfolding crisis. Frölander-Ulf, a Finnish-Swedish children's book author, employs a unique scratch art technique, creating a visually stunning and colorful children's novel. The artwork evokes comparisons to both the biblical story of Noah's Ark and the film "Titanic."

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Themes of power, resistance, and solidarity have long interested the Helsinki-based author. So too has the increasingly tangible impact of climate change on our lives.

Themes of power, resistance, and solidarity have long interested the Helsinki-based author, as has the increasingly tangible impact of climate change on our lives. Returning to a more visually driven narrative after her acclaimed adventure trilogy about the brave marmot Rafsa, Frölander-Ulf combines the luminous visual style of her picture books with the psychologically insightful undertones of her middle-grade novels. The result is a grandly executed, heartwarming, and original saga.

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It is a heartwarming and deeply original saga, completely without finger-wagging.