“The Professor’s Daughter”
By Joann Sfar and Emmanuel Guibert
FIRST SECOND BOOKS
The daughter of a British professor and esteemed Egyptologist, Lillian Bowell has found ways of having her own sort of fun within the stifling properness of Victorian England. When that sort of fun comes in the form of the mummified remains of Imhotep IV, one might wonder exactly what sort of book “The Professor’s Daughter” really is. The answer, surprisingly enough, is a light-hearted tale of a madcap necrophiliac romance and intergenerational bonding.
Yes. You’ve read that right.
And golly, it’s terribly, terribly sweet. Translated from French, Joann Sfar’s “The Professor’s Daughter” takes the generic unlikely romance convention and approaches it from a fresh, surprising perspective.
How could Lillian, bored staying at home all the time with her father’s musty old mummies, say no to a walk in the park from a recently awakened Imhotep IV, former pharaoh of Egypt?
They may draw strange looks as they take their tea in a nearby cafe, but everyone is entirely too proper to ask them to leave. It is only after Imhotep has a little too much to drink ““ after being dead for 3,000 years he finds it hard to hold his liquor ““ do they run into trouble.
What follows is an epic adventure of fathers, sons, dynasties and romance. A misunderstanding leads to multiple murders and Imhotep and Lillian on the run. Even Queen Victoria shows up for a little fun along with a whole host of dynamic, unique characters. Sfar’s writing, even through translation, is crisp and clean, moving the unlikely duo along the narrative with creative efficiency, yet never sacrificing the sometimes startlingly bittersweet moments of reflection.
Painted in gorgeous sepia-toned watercolors by Emmanuel Guibert, the book is detailed with delicate impressionistic brush strokes and little flourishes of color. Perfectly suiting the blithe, bright tone of the book, Guibert’s art manages both caricature and emotion with equal grace, bringing real expression to an essentially faceless character.
The new edition contains some test sketches Guibert did when visiting London. The contrast between the delightful, spry mummy of Imhotep IV and the tortured, twisted forms of those in the museum only makes his distinctive style stand out more.
Despite taking 10 years to reach the states, “The Professor’s Daughter” is worth the wait. Come to think of it, anything that manages to make the romance between a 3,000-year-old mummy and a courageous, sprightly Victorian girl understated might just be worth 3,000 years of waiting.
““ Dafna Pleban
E-mail Pleban at dpleban@media.ucla.edu.