HODO:A Life In Two Acts

A deeply affecting portrait of a woman’s life from the author of the Harvey Award-winning Moms

At first there was “Lake,” and then there was “Island.” Or was it the other way around? A story told in two parts, it is up to the reader to determine where they’d like to begin this eerie journey. Based on a true story that Yeong-shin Ma felt compelled to help share, together these two parts are Hodo—the story of a painter, whose hard and dark past is brought to life with sensitivity and authenticity. 

Lake—
Hodo is haunted—by her mother and step-mother, her classmates, a neighbor, and yes, literal ghosts. She is also five years old. Through masterful cartooning, we see a child’s despair in the face of pervasive violence, and her confusion as to why bad things keep happening to her. We see the edges of her depression begin to appear. 

Island—
Hodo is haunted—by her past, a friend’s suicide, her sister’s heartbreaking yet unsurprising betrayal, and yes, literal ghosts, still. Through masterful cartooning, we see a woman reckoning with her past and the shadow it has cast on her adulthood. But we also see her develop her artistic practice and witness her determination to find herself through her paintbrush. Because despite the incredible pain, Hodo is a story of light in the dark—a story of hope. 

From the author of critically acclaimed Moms, Hodo is translated by award-winning Janet Hong. | “This wry story, drawn with pen on paper, follows three friends — a novelist, a painter and a musician — as they struggle with creative obstacles, daily tedium and the pretensions of their wounded egos.”—The New York Times

“Don’t sleep on the work of Yeong-shin Ma."—The Toronto Star

"This darkly comic tale of three hapless and macho males fixes a boldly satirical eye on Korean society."—The Guardian | Yeong-shin Ma was born in Seoul in 1982. He made his debut in 2007 and began publishing webtoon comics in 2015. Though comics publishing has moved from print to digital in Korea, he still prefers to work with pen and paper. Moms, his first book to be published in English, received the Harvey Award for Best International Book. He is also the author of Artist.