Little Josephine: Memory in Pieces Review: Amazing

It’s rare to hear stories of visiting nurses and the people they help. Some of them view this as just a job. Visiting nurse Valérie Villieu is one of the ultra-rare cases that took the story of taking care of a patient and made it into a comic called  “Little Josephine: Memory in Pieces” with artist Rafaël Sarfati.   

This comic is Villieu’s memoir and it tells the story of the time she took of Josephine, an elderly woman suffering from Alzheimer’s who hasn’t left her home in a long time. Through their time together, Valerie and Josephine’s bond grows closer as Josephine starts to open up and Valerie learns more about Josephine. It’s a touching story told with the utmost care. You can tell by the writing that Villieu cared for Josephine and that she paints Josephie not as someone with a medical disorder, but as a person who just needed the right people to get her out of her shell. Villieu also takes great care to add certain aspects of Josephine that makes her a likable person. There is no much to Josephine’s life that it is sad as to what has become of her.    

Sarfati’s art design may not come across as anything grand, but it’s what he does with it that makes it amazing. He not only uses the panels in the traditional sense, but he also plays with them. Some examples are he creates an image of Josephine in her bed that takes up multiple panels, some panels get knocked down or even ripped up and there are panels where Josephine is sitting on them. It may come off as weird for some, but once you think about it this just brings out Josephine’s mental state to life. It shows that Josephine views the world in a hectic state and that the only time she feels safe is in her bed. “Little Joesphine: Memory in Pieces” is a rare treasure that showcases one visiting nurse’s deep relationship with one of her patients and artwork that fits way too perfectly with what’s going on in the story.