The Sacrifice (Bruce Mutard, A&U, $35 pb, ISBN 9781741751178, April) ***

The Sacrifice is set against the backdrop of pre-War II Melbourne. It follows the life of Robert Wells, a principled man, who is trying very hard to maintain the lifestyle he is used to. A man of means while all around him adversity grows for everyone else, he can afford his principles ... or can he? As the war’s inevitable start encroaches upon his life, Robert discovers, if only through the misfortunes and decisions of others, that the reach of a war halfway around the world is far indeed. As he questions his life and, in turn, his life is questioned by even those close to him, Robert navigates a series of events that sends him headlong into a momentous decision. Mutard’s art is clean and consistent, his assured storytelling nicely sets the tone and brings to life pre-war Melbourne without the need for laboured or flowery prose that would have detracted from the realism he is striving for. Dense with vignettes of Robert’s interaction with the peripheral characters (which certainly makes for well-rounded characters), this reads as a nice character piece, though it may have come at the expense of more plot.

W Chew Chan is a freelance artist and the comics consultant for Books Kinokuniya in Sydney

This review from Australian Bookseller & Publisher magazine is reproduced by kind permission of Thorpe-Bowker, a division of R R Bowker LLC. © Copyright 2008, Thorpe-Bowker

Tags: bruce mutard