Liberated

Claude Cahun has an extraordinary story, and the art by Kaz Rowe is a dreamlike accompaniment. While the story itself is interesting, it reads more like an autobiography than anything else; the whole thing is a collection of facts from throughout Claude's life. Although it's very educational, it feels a bit disjointed at times. Still, Liberated was a great opportunity for me to learn about a queer figure in the art world who I had previously never heard of.

A very brief and succinct account of Claude Cahun and Marcel Moore's life and activism. It didn't feel overly embellished, I loved that it was interspersed with actual photos of them and that Kaz Rowe incorporated actual quotes into their narrative. It was a nice outline of how two queer artists used their voices to resist social norms and later the Nazi regime. The story is not overly emotional and dramatic, but presented in a rather educational manner, which absolutely worked, especially considering the low page count. The art itself is clean throughout.

I think Liberated provides a great overview of Cahun and Moore's life and work. It's a good starting point if you want to educate yourself more on queer history, and an especially nice read during Pride Month! 🏳‍🌈

- ARC provided by NetGalley -

<blockquote>That's the challenge i want people to face.
Are your boxes necessary to know me, to love me?</blockquote>
I received a copy of This Graphic Novel ARC, in exchange for an honest review, Thanks To Kaz, Getty and NetGalley for the opportunity.
This will come out September 1, 2023, It's a biography of the amazing Claude Cahun a gender queer lesbian Artist/Writer/Photographer/Actor, Who was Phenomenal in every aspect of their artistic career, They were also a freedom fighter, that drove the Nazi occupation of Jersey (A French Island) Crazy!

<blockquote>Where i am tormented sky, deep and agitated ocean, She is firm ground, calm and light ocean.
I am no longer a lonely boat in that ocean.
I am in her, she is in me, and i will follow her always, never losing sight of her.
The lover that dares not speak its name lies like a golden haze upon my horizon.</blockquote>
It's also details the life of their partner Marcel Moore (Their real names are Lucy and Suzanne respectively) Their relationship was just beautiful, till death do us apart, that's just so rare now, They were really beautiful together, even though this wasn't really focusing on the romance aspect of their lives.

<blockquote>My father could offer me nothing better on my seventh birthday than this : I am very sorry for having brought you into this world.</blockquote>
A big part of this was also about the anti-Semitism that was running rampant in Europe, when Lucy was growing up, Myself lacking historical reads on Europe in the period of 1900+, was thinking that it was only Nazis that gave them hell, But no even France was really ugly for Lucy as they were growing up.

<blockquote>Our work does defy explanation, But the main message is always there beneath the surface.
It grapples with identity and the innate self, Challenging the viewer to question societal "Truths"</blockquote>
They were also a rebel on their current societal norms, and tried to always push the boundaries of what people perceive as normal, A writer beyond their time for sure, i was really impressed by some of the things they said here, Because the Writer was writing with Claude's own words, since they did leave behind memoirs and so many books of the highest intellectual level.

<blockquote>I look to my male contemporaries but find no guidance, i have never fit the expected idea of "woman"
I am not a muse, a mother, or a man's lover.</blockquote>
<blockquote>Women began careers started businesses, wrote, or joined the Red Cross, I began publishing my illustrations.
We shouldn't have to given up our gains, Just because the war ended.
They expect us to go crawling back into the domestic shadows.
We should have a choice!</blockquote>
They were also pioneers feminists to boot, i just loved these muses of theirs, and this part was really enlightening, i never thought that women taking over the jobs of men during world war 1, would be the catalyst to break the role forced upon them to be domestic house wives.
But now that i read it, it makes so much sense!
The government wanted them to leave their jobs, after the men were coming back from the war, They said Fuck that no deal!

<blockquote>Terror without end, or end with terror.</blockquote>
World war 2 hit heavy in this Graphic novel, because up to that point, everything was going as smoothly as can be, it was all upsides, but then war comes knocking at your door, They said it's a surreal feeling to see your world crumbling around you, I can't even imagine how horrible that is, to have a nice calm life, and then you are faced with an occupation, and you are forced to lay low, or fight, and most of us, our instinct is fight, fight to our last breath...

<blockquote>The Nazis' incredibly limited beliefs of what women are capable of worked against them, and we used their perception of us as feeble women to our advantage.</blockquote>
Both of them created the persona of the nameless soldier, Writing pamphlets as if a soldier is annoyed with the occupation, and no one doubted them till they got sold out in the end, and got imprisoned.
<blockquote>Her Notes kept my soul alive.</blockquote>

<blockquote>In the masquerade of our lives, the mask we choose to wear is a mask of our own making after all</blockquote>
<img src="https://imgur.com/nlXpayx.jpg"/>
<img src="https://imgur.com/LBcKAy4.jpg"/>
The Art was simply amazing, Kaz Did an amazing job, from their choice of color, to the decorative style in some pages (I am still not entirely sure, the word i mean, translates to decorative)
To the Pencils, To including real pieces of art, and photographs made by Claud and Marcel.
It was all just fabulous, i find my self unable to say any negative critique about this entire Graphic novel, and that's the best feeling you want to have after finishing a book.

<img src="https://imgur.com/YZT2Lo7.jpg"/>
And i am not saying that because they draw the best looking cats ever!!!
I didn't include most other cat pics, which shows exactly their talent at drawing that cat beautifully, it looked very content, and very happy in every single picture, like the happiest cat ever, more happy than the Cheshire Cat!
The photo of the smuggled Peekaboo cat won in the end for me lol

<blockquote>I'm a hundred miles away from any hatred.
In fact, I'm having a hard time not hugging the entire world with my heart.</blockquote>
Thanks for the amazing read, May all your next creations be as amazing, Someone needs to make a similar Graphic Novel about this gay icon though Willem Arondeus, I would love to read that, he has many similarities with Claude, that he is a freedom fighter and a Writer/Artist as well, Not sure if it would be as easy, getting sources on him though!

<blockquote>But at the end of the day, I defy your attempts to perceive me, For every boundary the world sets before me, i will cross it every time.</blockquote>

I have read a lot of books on this period of history and this one attracted me to it straight away due to the different way that the author has used to tell the story – it is definitely one that stands out for me.

The story was told well, you got the full understanding of what was going on, the perils that they were involved with being Jewish and lesbians and I was quite shocked to read that they were given the death penalty only for them to be saved at the end.

The books shined a light on the prejudices that were common at the time, especially when the Nazi’s invaded Jersey where they had looked to relocate with a view initially to the island being safer than mainland France, only for the island to be pretty much abandoned by the UK government until after the liberation.

It is 4 stars from me for this one – highly recommended and a good insight in to two people that I had not heard of before – really informative too!

Thank you to Getty Publications and NetGalley for (finally) providing an ARC of this title. I've had my eye on this one since Kaz mentioned it on their YouTube channel, and I've been dying to get my hands on it.

Liberated is a short graphic novel about the Surrealist figure Claude Cahun's life, featuring their romantic partner Marcel Moore as a major side character. Personally, I didn't know anything about either of them before reading this. However, like Rowe's YouTube videos, I often enjoy their content because I go into it not knowing about a particular historical figure, event, etc, and coming out feeling like I've learned something important and insightful regarding queer history. Additionally, Rowe does a great job citing sources, so you can delve further into a topic if you're interested.

I'd recommend this book this anyone honestly, but that's just my own bias lol. If you're interested in queer history, Jewish history, WWII, graphic biographies or memoirs, or Kaz Rowe's YouTube channel, then I think you'd enjoy this title.

Also, I can't believe I just used my librarian privilege to read a title that doesn't come out until September and now I can't talk about it in detail until then. I'm suffering from success over here.

I love Kaz Rowe's YouTube deep dives so I've been very much looking forward to their biographical graphic novel-- and I wasn't disappointed. I'd never heard of Claude Cahun before reading Liberated and what a shame that is. Theirs is a story of art, self-expression, and resistance. And Rowe's art was the perfect companion to it. A great addition to the archives of LGBTQ and WWII history.

I’m incredibly happy that there’s finally a biography of Claude Cahun that does not erase their complex gender identity and is actually written by a non-binary person! I’m a big fan of Kaz Rowe’s queer historical video essays so I’ve been eagerly awaiting this book ever since it was announced.

The book itself is beautifully illustrated and also includes historical photographs, which paints Cahun’s life story very well. It’s clear that Kaz Rowe handles Cahun’s life and identity (in relation to them being both queer and Jewish) with a lot of care and attention. Especially reading about the war years made me a bit emotional.

My only complaint is that I did not like the fact that it is written in first person. This is probably just a personal preference, but I don’t like when books are written from the perspective of a historical figure because it causes the lines between fiction and non-fiction to blur in a way that makes me wonder how much is an author’s embellishment and how much is fact. For example I recognised a few of Cahun’s direct quotes that were woven seamlessly into this first person narrative, but I now have no way of telling how much of the text is quoted from Cahun and how much is the author’s interpretation, which frustrates me a little bit. But I can see why the first-person choice may have also been made in order to avoid using gendered pronouns for Cahun, which would be understandable.

My minor complaint aside, this is a beautiful short biography and I’d definitely recommend it to anyone wanting to find out more about Claude Cahun and Marcel Moore.

Thanks Netgalley and publisher for giving permission to review this history graphic novel.

I have to say, I was surprised that Claude Cahun and her partner were one of the lucky ones to survive two world wars. It was tragic from the beginning that Cahuns mother was basically out of her life once she was in a mental institution and that the father doesn’t seem interested in raising her but had the grandmother to look her mostly. She literally was smart sort who knows how to create art and question it.

Now I’m not a arty farty but when I see art that’s easy on the eye, sign me up. From looking online she had a few works. I like the fact this graphic novel mixed the real photos as well as the drawings together. It just blends in the life of Claude Cahun as a successful artist!

For full transparency, I watch the author of this graphic novel on YouTube and know that they have been working tirelessly on this project for some time. That said, I found this to be a fascinating and remarkable piece of queer history. I hope this does well and is recommended with the likes of Persepolis.

Thanks to NetGalley for an eARC of this graphic novel.

I had never heard of Claude Cahun before requesting this ARC, but I am so glad that I did. Learning about this gay, Jewish genderqueer artist who used their unique skills and outlook on life to resist Nazis was so delightful. And very timely for the current wave of antisemitism, homophobia, transphobia, and fascism we are experiencing. The message that any person can be a resistance activist in their own way (no matter how big or small) is very important. Not to mention the gorgeous illustrations, interspersed with photos from Claude's life, that make up this graphic novel. Highly recommend.

“Under this mask, another mask. I will never be finished removing all these faces.”
Claude Cahun


I would like to express my gratitude for the Advance Reader Copy (ARC) of this book, generously provided by the publisher through NetGalley, in exchange for an honest review.

"Liberated: The Radical Art and Life of Claude Cahun" is a remarkable graphic novel that delves into the captivating life and artistic journey of Claude Cahun. Authored by Kaz Rowe, this work beautifully brings to light the compelling story of a gay, Jewish, genderqueer artist who left an indelible mark on the world of surrealist photography.

The graphic novel skillfully explores Cahun's life, focusing not only on their artistic accomplishments but also on their personal relationships and their active participation in antifascist circles during the 1920s and 30s in Paris. The narrative unfolds with a well-balanced blend of historical context and intimate moments, allowing readers to immerse themselves in the artist's world.

One of the standout features of this graphic novel is the stunning artwork. The illustrations are a visual feast, capturing the essence of Cahun's surrealist photography and mirroring their avant-garde style. Each panel is meticulously crafted, showcasing the artist's unique perspective and the emotional depth of their work.

Furthermore, it provides valuable insights into Cahun's relationship with Marcel Moore, their life partner and collaborator. The novel explores the dynamics of their partnership, shedding light on the profound influence they had on each other's art and activism. Their move to the Island of Jersey and their involvement in creative anti-Nazi resistance work during World War II adds another layer of complexity to their story, illustrating their unwavering commitment to their beliefs.

Overall, "Liberated: The Radical Art and Life of Claude Cahun" is a remarkable graphic novel that shines a much-deserved spotlight on an extraordinary artist. An exceptional artwork, coupled with a well-crafted narrative, offers an engaging and visually stunning exploration of Cahun's life and work. Whether you are already familiar with Claude Cahun or are discovering them for the first time, this graphic novel is a must-read for anyone interested in art, history, and the enduring power of resistance.

Liberated is a quasi-fictional memoir of Lucy Schwob aka Claude Cohan. I saw quasi-fictional because it is written from Schwob’s point of view, but is written and illustrated by Kaz Rowe, who combines various primary documents with their narrative. The primary focus is Schwob’s lifelong partnership with Suzanne Malherbe aka Marcel Moore, with whom they shared artistic and political projects. Rowe’s decision to rely on a neutral palette of black, white, and purple works well here, as it allows black-and-white photography to blend well while also representing Schwob and Malherbe’s status as queer individuals. The book has a strong narrative line, a good bibliography from primary source, and does an excellent job in introducing Schwob’s life, art, and Nazi resistance.

I hadn't heard of Cahun before this book, but I do follow the author on youtube so was very excited to see what they'd produced!

I was not disappointed. There's a lovely mix of facts and photos, alongside a fictionalised narrative that moves the timeline along.

The illustrations are lovely, and the timeline progresses quickly, whilst still being nicely informative

I read this yesterday and it's still sitting in my head. I suspect I'll go back and re-read it a few times before my review copy expires

I received an advance copy for free from NetGalley, on the expectation that I would provide an honest review.

Before reading this graphic novel I knew nothing about Claude Cahun so I went into this blindly and I was not disappointed. This graphic novel does a wonderful job of introducing the reader to Claude Cahun, their history, and their work. The illustrations were beautifully rendered and the addition of actual photographs from the artist really helped to enhance the story and provide more context. I thought the author did a great job of telling the life story of Claude Cahun and educating the reader on both the reader and the time period in which the artist lived.


Thank you to NetGalley and Getty Publications for this E_ARC of "Liberated".

Masculine? Feminine? It depends on the situation"--Claude Cahun

Liberated by Kaz Rowe is pretty amazing. It's the biograpy--creative non-fiction, as if the subject were telling it themselves--of Lucy Schwob, who was a Jewsih lesbian artist who was connected to Paul Breton and the Suurelaists, but went her own way. She changed her named in the thirties to Claude Cahun, and lived until she died with Susan Malherbe, who changed their name to Marcel Moore. She performed on stage with masks, changing genders; she called herself "gender neutral," and hoped to disrupt the world's view of a fixed identity. Gender fluid, we might call it now? She and Marcel created amazing surrealist photographs helping us question the nature of reality.

During the Nazi invasion of France they lived in Jersey and resisted the invasion with art, creating flyers with statements and poetry that was intended to undermine the confidence of young and exhausted Nazi soldiers. Someone--for a good price--turned them in and they were sentenced to death, though in the last months of the war, their sentence was commuted.

The book is really well done--simply illustrated, tightly constructed narrative using the actual words of Cahun as much as possible throughout. Inspiring, at times thrilling in the ways art might resist against wars and fascism. How is it I--a person who loves dada and surrealism and studied it for a time--did not know of Cahun? Because the men of these movements were largely in the spotlight, just as the men of The Beats were in the spotlight. I am glad to know them. I strongly recommend this terrific book, one of my favorite of the year.

For the early look, thanks to Net Galley, Getty Publications and Kaz Rowe: Go!

I was looking forward to this, and I loved it - the art, the history, the love for these real people. It was excellent, weighted without feeling too heavy, but not so light that it made less of the topics.

I really adored this graphic novel. Simple yet evocative art, occasional photos to ground the story and remind the reader that this was truly someone's life. It was not overly gentle about the dark parts of this history, but neither was it aggressive in forcing those on the reader. It struck a very measured and intentional tone that was consistent throughout the book.

Thank you NetGalley and Getty Publications for the advance digital copy of this book!

I was so excited to receive a copy of Kaz Rowe's graphic novel "Liberated". I've been a fan of their Youtube channel for some time, and was highly anticipating the release of this book. I enjoyed the first person perspective of the story. It brought Claude Cahun and their struggle with identity and oppression closer to the reader by phrasing it in their own words and with words they might have said. The illustrations were also supplemented with actual historical photographs and I thought that was another great touch. It can be difficult for the modern queer community to find queer historical figures to look back to. So many of their stories have been lost to time because of the times they lived in, or because past historians are unwilling to bring queer identities into consideration. I am immensely grateful to "Liberated" for bringing one of those stories to light, Claude Cahun and their life partner Marcel Moore's courage and art won't be forgotten.

Through this book, I found Kaz’s YouTube and have been watching videos back to back. I’ve been seeking a graphic biography that lived up to my last one for ALL of 2023 this is the only one that’s made it for me. I haven’t read a biography this good in SO long. Genuinely cannot recommend highly enough.

“The love that dares not speak its name lies like a golden haze upon my horizon.”

I have been a fan of Kaz Rowe's YouTube for a while and was very happy to receive a chance to review their book. I am really happy to say it was really interesting and informative to read the art work was well done.

Rating ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

A very, very special thank you to NetGalley and Getty Publications for this ARC!

5 out of 5⭐

I absolutely loved it. The art style is phenomenal: the composition, the use of color (the contextual meaning of lavender), the use of negative space, the line art, the loving care spent on Jewish features--I can go on forever!

This graphic novel is a touching biography on a Jewish lesbian figure that I had known nothing of previously, and it was sorely missed information: I am so glad to know of her now!! It focuses on the life and many faces of Claude Cahun (Lucy Renee Mathilde Schwob) from girlhood to antifascist fighter in old age and failing health during the entirety of World War II.

I highly recommend this to anyone who loves LGBT history, Jewish literature, and the mix of the two!

Absolutely breathtaking!

While I am always impressed with the bravery that is required of people in the LGBTQIA community now, it never ceases to amaze me how brave people had to be at a time when their love was illegal and could’ve gotten them killed. Compound that time period with Nazi occupation, and it is even more astounding that these two people were not only willing to live with each other and love each other, but we’re willing to speak out against the Nazi regime and attempt to bring it down through their art and their words. You don’t hear a lot about gender queer people in the 1940s, and especially one who would be so outgoing as to be a surrealist artist. I’m really glad I know about this person now. I do wish it had had a bit more detail, but maybe this is all that’s known? It just felt a little sparse.

Liberated felt...disjointed. The story of Claude Cahun and Marcel Moore is a fascinating one; a story that focuses on queer liberation, fighting against tyranny, and the freedom of artistic expression. Rowe's art is gorgeous and faithful to the source material but the storytelling at the beginning of the graphic novel is abrupt and confusing to readers. This could have used some extra time after edits to create a more cohesive story.

Beautifully crafted story of Nazi resistance from a couple that were just wanting to enjoy life together. Their efforts focused on telling the truth- something kept from the troops
VERDICT- Fab historical addition to graphic novel collections.

A beautiful depiction of a little-known queer visionary, artist, and rebel. Packed with interesting details, portrayed with heart and even sprinkles of humor ("we were lucky that we couldn't have been less remarkable [...] who would suspect us?" with Claud and Marcel smug muggin' walking past frazzled Nazi soldiers had me charmed). Loved the art style and the creative autobiographical approach, too!