Les Sœurs Grémillet: Sarah's Dream, which has just been released in early spring by Dupuis , is a charming little album that is obviously aimed primarily at teenage girls. The characters portrayed leave no doubt about it: three sisters, aged between ten and sixteen, live with their mother Magda, whose relational circle extends outside the family to two long-time friends.
The Grémillet sisters: A traditional tale?
The overall aesthetic and atmosphere smack of traditional storytelling, and the willingly idealized imagery of the small town where the Grémillet family lives accentuates this feeling. The authors tell us the story of three sisters, Sarah, Cassiopeia and Lucille who try to discover the past of their mother whom they have just realized that they do not know much. They therefore conduct their little investigation by digging through their family archives or by questioning Magda's relatives. From this situation, the characters of each of the three will gradually reveal themselves to us. Sarah is the tallest, the leader. Cassiopeia is the coquettish blue flower, and Lucille is the most introverted who likes to take refuge with her cat and feed those who roam the city. The story is judiciously dreamlike thanks to the very careful drawing of Alessandro Barbucci (which he himself puts in color in an atmosphere of pastel and luminous reflections), leaving the reader to imagine possible fantastic situations to come. But we must not trust appearances, because, at the end of the day, the story is most realistic, and even a little sad. The script by Giovanni Di Gregorio (and a little also by Barbucci) is quite classic but effective and will touch the sensibilities of young readers. The foundations are therefore well laid to arouse the desire to read the next volume (Les Amours de Cassiopée) which will probably see the second sister occupy the leading role, like the eldest in this first album of the Grémillet sisters.
