So Long, Sad Love captures Montreal life and the courage to start over
Mirion Malle solidifies her voice in contemporary graphic fiction
The 2020 graphic novel This Is How I Disappear catapulted French-born, Montreal-based artist Mirion Malle to local comic stardom, and deservingly so.
The book not only offered an incredibly honest and grounded portrayal of mental health, but was also remarkable for how true to life Malle managed to render out the anxiety-ridden quotidien of a 20-something creative professional. There are so few contemporary authors who have been able to capture the specific sociality of Montreal’s cultural literary niche—captured in an authentic, mimetic precision that is threaded through all of Malle’s dialogue scenes.
Malle’s latest release, So Long, Sad Love, newly translated from the original French by Ariane Moffatt, shows exciting signs of her still-evolving narrative breadth. It’s no surprise the book has been nominated for the prestigious Governor General's Literary Awards in the Translated Fiction category.
So Long, Sad Love, as suggested by its title, centres around endings and new beginnings. The book follows Cléo, a comic artist recently expatriated from her native Paris, now living in Montreal with her boyfriend, Charles. Just as she’s started to establish herself in the local arts scene, she learns of some disturbing details concerning Charles’s past. Unravelling the dubious lies of Charles and their mutual friend group also means completely unravelling the familiar life that Cléo depends upon.
Though Malle’s comic style is expressive and effective in its spareness, what shines most in the book is her mastery of dialogue. Lengthy conversations between Cléo and her friends grant space and nuance for Malle’s characters to expose the quotidien misogyny and male toxicity which women, particularly women of colour, are all too familiar with.
So Long, Sad Love pointedly centres not on a potentially hyperdramatic breakup, but rather on the way Cléo manages to confront and move on from it. Cléo is ultimately triumphant—not because she succeeds in breaking up with a toxic boyfriend, but because she fosters new friendships and finds new love among her burgeoning support system—heralding a new chapter in her life with optimism and hope. So Long, Sad Love illustrates how choosing to start again is also an act of choosing yourself.
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