“Roots”

With “Roots” Tara O’Connor plants seeds that sometimes branches into interesting places, exploring her journey across the whole island of Ireland as she searches for her familial roots and lays down new romantic roots that hopefully grows into something strong and beautiful as an oak. The problem with “Roots,” however is that none of these aspects, not the journey, the family history, nor the new relationship, feel satisfyingly explored.

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Cover by Tara O'Connor

Written & Illustrated by Tara O’Connor

On a journey to the old world — she discovered a whole new world.

After a messy year of heartbreak and setbacks, Tara sets off to Ireland in search of clues to her family’s ancestry, but what she finds isn’t at all what she expected. Some of it has to do with the lack of records, but a lot has to do with John, the charming cartoonist she met on Twitter. Wrapped in real family history and set amongst the natural beauty of the Irish countryside, Roots is a classic romantic-comedy adventure and a page-turning account of a young woman finding herself.

O’Connor first started working on “Roots” after a break-up of a very serious long-term relationship, when she wasn’t sure where her life was anymore. She moves back in with her parents, giving us a fun sequence where Tara is taunted by the previous occupants of that room: her younger selves. She says she’s always had an interest in her family history but never looked particularly deep into it, so sets up a Kickstarter to fund a trip to Ireland, to research her family and make a book about the trip.

This documenting of her trip through Ireland and going back through the pain of the end of that relationship feels like a kind of cathartic exercise for O’Connor, by making this book, she can move forward. Within the pages of “Roots,” we see that happening, as it is through this book-generating trip that Tara meets John. “Roots,” however, isn’t a deep reflection on this moment in Tara’s life, it is more of a straight travelogue or diary comic. It feels like it’s being made on-the-go, day-by-day, so the reason it’s being made is different at the beginning than at the end. I think that’s part of the reason that it doesn’t feel like it entirely satisfies my hungry, much like life, and to an extent O’Connor’s art style, “Roots” is amorphous.

O’Connor’s art is pretty and eye-catching, it feels alive and expressive. She can play cute, comedic moments well, and more emotional scenes. Although, at some moments in “Roots,” moments on both ends of that dichotomy fall flat. O’Connor’s art always looks pleasant, but sometimes it doesn’t click with the beat of the story.

In terms of “Roots” as an exploration of the history of the O’Connor’s, it is also a little disappointing. This isn’t exactly O’Connor’s fault, as the blurb says there was a lack of records, and there was a big (6’6” apparently) distraction in John. Obviously, O’Connor wasn’t in control of what records were available, but she was in control of the construction of the book, and there is rarely a sense of Tara reconnecting with her roots, or even trying to. There are a couple sequences where we get told about some historic members of Tara’s family tree, however these are brief and feel almost entirely separate from the main narrative of the book.

That main narrative takes a while to come into its own but once it does it sweet and occasionally beautiful. That narrative being the romance between Tara and John. In the earlier parts of the book, John doesn’t feel fleshed out, he just a companion, likewise the relationship that Tara has to him is unclear. The blurb says there’s a romance, but it takes a while to really feel that concretely. Nevertheless, after they kiss, and it becomes clear that there is a romance there, it is really cute. In the version I have (which is from Top Shelf and is clearly different from the Kickstarter version), there is an extended denouement wherein we see Tara back in America after the trip, attempting a long-distance relationship with John, and it is the most heart-filled part of the book. There’s a warmth that comes in for the last part of “Roots,” there’s little discernible change in O’Connor’s approach, it just feels more passionate.

“Roots” is a mixed bag. O’Connor’s work looks great, some moments are heartfelt and moving, but those are inconsistent. It does sort of weird critiquing this book, because it feels so directly what happened, it’s more of diary than a creative response. While this may have been cathartic for O’Connor to make, catharsis is traditionally a reaction in an audience and I didn’t get much out of this. A diary is for yourself, not an audience. O’Connor can draw well, but in terms of making a unified graphic novel, “Roots” falls down. Rather than feeling like a singular pieces, it feels like a smattering of disparate elements from life. “Roots” gives a taste of elements that could have been drawn out into interesting explorations; of Ireland as a place; of the end of one relationship and the start of a new one; of her family history. But as it stands, there is little meat to each of these, we only get the root vegetables on the side of the roast, but no turkey.