Fruit of Knowledge

'How I loved reading Liv Stroemquist's Fruit of Knowledge. Mostly, this was down to its sheer, punchy brilliance ... If her strips are clever, angry, funny and righteous, they're also informative to an eye-popping degree ...Every page is so fantastically acute' Rachel Cooke, Observer Graphic Novel of the MonthFrom Adam and Eve to pussy hats, people have punished, praised, pathologised and politicised vulvas, vaginas, clitorises, and menstruation. In the international bestseller Fruit of Knowledge, celebrated Swedish cartoonist Liv Stroemquist traces how different cultures and traditions have shaped women's health and beyond. Her biting, informed commentary and ponytailed avatar guides the reader from the darkest chapters of history (a clitoridectomy performed on a five-year-old American child as late as 1948) to the lightest (vulvas used as architectural details as a symbol of protection).Like Alison Bechdel and Jacky Fleming, she uses the comics medium to reveal uncomfortable truths about how far we haven't come. 'A brilliantly drawn, cleverly researched and deeply funny account of a battle signposted by its subtitle: The vulva vs the patriarchy' Times Literary Supplement'Feminist, snappy, instructive and hilarious!' Time Out Paris