Becoming Unbecoming

Last updated
Becoming Unbecoming
Becoming Unbecoming.jpg
First edition
Author Una
LanguageEnglish
Subject Gender violence
GenreNonfiction, Autobiography
Published30 September 2015
Publisher Myriad Editions
Media typePrint (paperback)
Pages208
ISBN 978-1-908434-69-2

Becoming Unbecoming is a 2015 graphic novel by English author Una. It depicts the effects of misogyny and sexism on twelve-year old Una growing up in northern England in 1977 while the Yorkshire Ripper is on the loose, creating a panic among townspeople. [1]

The novel follows two different timelines. The first deals with the rape of the author, and her subsequent harassment and shaming by the community. The second deals with the British police manhunt for the Yorkshire Ripper, show how police frequently blamed the victims instead of following leads. The novel was published on September 30, 2015, in the U.K. and November 1, 2016, in North America. [2]

There are two English language editions: the original 2015 UK edition published by Myriad Editions and the North American edition published in 2016 by Arsenal Pulp Press. The book has been translated into Spanish, French, Dutch, Turkish, Italian and Portuguese (Brazilian).

Becoming Unbecoming was named a top ten book on the Amelia Bloomer List in 2017. [3] The French edition of Becoming UnbecomingL'Une D'Elles — was awarded the Prix Artémisia 2019 du combat féministe.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Patricia Cornwell</span> American crime writer (born 1956)

Patricia Cornwell is an American crime writer. She is known for her best-selling novels featuring medical examiner Kay Scarpetta, of which the first was inspired by a series of sensational murders in Richmond, Virginia, where most of the stories are set. The plots are notable for their emphasis on forensic science, which has influenced later TV treatments of police work. Cornwell has also initiated new research into the Jack the Ripper killings, incriminating the popular British artist Walter Sickert. Her books have sold more than 100 million copies.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Peter Sutcliffe</span> English serial killer (1946–2020)

Peter William Sutcliffe, also known as Peter Coonan, was an English serial killer who was convicted of murdering thirteen women and attempting to murder seven others between 1975 and 1980. He was dubbed in press reports as the Yorkshire Ripper, an allusion to the Victorian serial killer Jack the Ripper. He was sentenced to twenty concurrent sentences of life imprisonment, which were converted to a whole life order in 2010. Two of Sutcliffe's murders took place in Manchester; all the others were in West Yorkshire. Criminal psychologist David Holmes characterised Sutcliffe as being an "extremely callous, sexually sadistic serial killer."

An autobiographical comic is an autobiography in the form of comic books or comic strips. The form first became popular in the underground comix movement and has since become more widespread. It is currently most popular in Canadian, American and French comics; all artists listed below are from the U.S. unless otherwise specified.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">David Peace</span> English novelist

David Peace is an English writer. Best known for his UK-set novels Red Riding Quartet (1999–2002), GB84 (2004), The Damned Utd (2006), and Red or Dead (2013), Peace was named one of the Best of Young British Novelists by Granta in their 2003 list. His books often deal with themes of mental breakdown or derangement in the face of extreme circumstances. In an interview with David Mitchell, he stated: "I was drawn to writing about individuals and societies in moments that are often extreme, and often at times of defeat, be they personal or broader, or both. I believe that in such moments, during such times, in how we react and how we live, we learn who we truly are, for better or worse."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Blake Morrison</span> English poet and author (born 1950)

Philip Blake Morrison FRSL is an English poet and author who has published in a wide range of fiction and non-fiction genres. His greatest success came with the publication of his memoirs And When Did You Last See Your Father? (1993), which won the J. R. Ackerley Prize for Autobiography. He has also written a study of the murder of James Bulger, As If. Since 2003, Morrison has been Professor of Creative and Life Writing at Goldsmiths College, University of London. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alison Goodman</span> Australian writer

Alison Goodman is an Australian writer of books for young adults.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Peter May (writer)</span> Scottish writer (born 1951)

Peter May is a Scottish television screenwriter, novelist, and crime writer. He is the recipient of writing awards in Europe and America. The Blackhouse won the U.S. Barry Award for Crime Novel of the Year and the national literature award in France, the CEZAM Prix Litteraire. The Lewis Man won the French daily newspaper Le Télégramme's 10,000-euro Grand Prix des Lecteurs. In 2014, Entry Island won both the Deanston's Scottish Crime Novel of the Year and the UK's ITV Crime Thriller Book Club Best Read of the Year Award. May's books have sold more than two million copies in the UK and several million internationally.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jennifer Donnelly</span> American writer of young adult fiction

Jennifer Donnelly is an American writer best known for the young adult historical novel A Northern Light.

Simon Beckett is a British journalist and author. His books, in particular the crime series around forensic anthropologist Dr David Hunter, have sold 21 million copies worldwide, and have had particular success in Germany and Scandinavia.

<i>And Then There Were None</i> 1939 mystery novel by Agatha Christie

And Then There Were None is a mystery novel by the English writer Agatha Christie, who described it as the most difficult of her books to write. It was first published in the United Kingdom by the Collins Crime Club on 6 November 1939, as Ten Little Niggers, after an 1869 minstrel song that serves as a major plot element. The US edition was released in January 1940 with the title And Then There Were None, taken from the last five words of the song. Successive American reprints and adaptations use that title, though American Pocket Books paperbacks used the title Ten Little Indians between 1964 and 1986. UK editions continued to use the original title until 1985.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Amelia Bloomer</span> Womens rights activist and temperance advocate

Amelia Jenks Bloomer was an American newspaper editor, women's rights and temperance advocate. Even though she did not create the women's clothing reform style known as bloomers, her name became associated with it because of her early and strong advocacy. In her work with The Lily, she became the first woman to own, operate and edit a newspaper for women.

Myriad Editions is an independent UK publishing house based in Brighton and Hove, Sussex, specialising in topical atlases, graphic non-fiction and original fiction, whose output also encompasses graphic novels that span a variety of genres, including memoir and life writing, as well political non-fiction. The company was set up in 1993 by Anne Benewick, together with Judith Mackay, as a packager of infographic atlases.

<i>Akata Witch</i> 2011 fantasy novel by Nnedi Okorafor

Akata Witch is a 2011 fantasy novel written by Nigerian-American author Nnedi Okorafor. It was nominated for the Andre Norton Award and it is the first novel in the Nsibidi Scripts Series, where it is followed by two sequels Akata Warrior and Akata Woman published in 2017 and 2022 respectively.

Lynn Povich is an American journalist. She began her career as a secretary in the Paris Bureau of Newsweek magazine, rising to become a reporter and writer in New York in the late 1960s. In 1970, she was one of a group of women who sued the magazine for sex discrimination. Five years later, she was appointed the first woman Senior Editor in Newsweek's history. Povich is the daughter of journalist Shirley Povich and the sister of Maury Povich.

Frances McNeil, also writing as Frances Brody, is an English novelist and playwright, and has written extensively for radio.

Andrew Michael Hurley is a British writer whose debut novel, The Loney, was published in a limited edition of 350 copies on 1 October 2014 by Tartarus Press and was published under Hodder and Stoughton's John Murray imprint in 2015 (ISBN 9781473619821). He was interviewed on BBC Radio 4's Open Book programme "British Gothic" in October 2015.

Riverdale Avenue Books, located in Riverdale, Bronx, New York, is a publisher of e-books, print books on demand and audiobooks founded in 2012 by Lori Perkins. Riverdale is a member of the American Association of Publishers and publishes between 50 and 75 books a year.

Laura Shovan is an American author and poet.

Rise: A Feminist Book Project, formerly known as the Amelia Bloomer Project and compiled by the American Library Association, is an annual list of books with significant feminist content that are intended for readers from birth to age 18. The Amelia Bloomer Project was started in 2002 and continued annually until the name change in 2020. Rise is unique from other book lists in that it selects books based on content.

Susan Elizabeth Steiner was an English novelist and journalist best known for her three crime thriller novels set in Cambridgeshire, and whose central character is DS Manon Bradshaw. The first novel in the series was Missing, Presumed and was published in 2016. This was followed by Persons Unknown, published in 2017, and Remain Silent, published in 2020.

References

  1. Zagorin, Edmund. "Book Review: Becoming Unbecoming by Una". The Los Angeles Review. Retrieved 1 May 2020.
  2. Lucy Westcott (12 October 2016). "'Becoming Unbecoming' and the Unspoken Horror of Gender Violence". newsweek.com. Newsweek. Retrieved 1 May 2020.
  3. "2017 Amelia Bloomer List". American Library Association. 2017-01-25. Retrieved 2021-04-23.