Description
An original graphic novel based on the IVF stories of its husband-and-wife authors and the 1-in-50 couples around the world like them.
Conrad and Joanne met in their final year of university and have been virtually inseparable since then. For a while, it felt like they had all the time in the world. Yet now, when they are finally ready to have kids, they find that getting pregnant isn't always so easy.
Ahead of them lies a difficult, expensive, and emotional journey into the world of assisted fertility, where each 'successful' implantation is followed by a two-week wait to see if the pregnancy takes. Join Joanne and Conrad, their friends, their family, their coworkers, and a stream of expert medical practitioners as they experience the highs and the lows, the tears and the laughter in this sensitive but unflinching portrayal of the hope and heartbreak offered to so many by modern medicine.
About the Author
Luke C. Jackson is a teacher, and the author of novels, games, and films. He and his wife, Kelly, began their own IVF journey in 2011, and are now parents of two daughters. Two-Week Wait: an IVF story is their first novel. Kelly Jackson is a teacher and educational writer. She and her husband, Luke, began their own IVF journey in 2011, and are now parents of two daughters. Two-Week Wait: an IVF story is their first novel. Mara Wild lives and works in Hamburg, Germany, as a freelance illustrator and animator, mostly doing multimedia artwork. She met Luke while studying abroad in Melbourne, taking one of his classes.
Reviews
'The Jacksons, married educators and parents of two, partner with artist Wild to tell a compassionate story about the struggle to conceive based on their own experiences and interviews with other couples who have dealt with fertility issues ... Wild's loose, fluid, warmly coloured pencil art perfectly complements the script; in swooping curves and simple shapes, she draws emotive characters in domestic settings that look lived-in. Gentle and empathetic, this enters a growing trying-to-conceive graphic medicine genre, recalling Sarah Glidden's and Lucy Knisley's work, and offers a touchstone for any reader dealing with IVF.'
* Publishers Weekly *'Full of honesty and vulnerability ... Two-Week Wait will appeal to readers of memoir and graphic novels alike.'
-- Adam Ford * Books+Publishing *'The book demystifies the technical processes of IVF for readers, and tracks the ups and downs ... The drawings, by the talented German illustrator Mara Wild, are full of light and air ... It is a beautifully drawn, heartfelt, real- feeling examination of the struggle to become parents.'
-- Bernard Caleo * Readings *'Compelling, harrowing ... proof that comics can be much more than superhero stories - they are a dexterous art form that can effectively communicate complex, serious topics.'
-- Giselle Au-Nhien Nguyen * The Guardian *'In this lovely volume, you'll encounter heartache, hope, humour, and a very true and personal exploration of the physical, emotional, and financial roller-coaster of IVF. You'll also see the graphic novel form at its finest: where every dot and line has nuance and meaning, and where big ideas and feelings are conveyed with great subtlety through spare, elegant illustrations working hand-in-hand with great dialogue.'
-- Nicki Greenberg'Readers who have never experienced IVF may find this book educative, while readers who have may be pleased to see their experience reflected with so much empathy.'
-- Kerryn Goldsworthy * Sydney Morning Herald *'Luke C. Jackson and Kelly Jackson have created a beautiful and gut-wrenching story of infertility, relationships, and hope centred around the two-week period waiting to find out if the implantation resulted in a successful pregnancy ... Accompanied with the Jackson's narrative is Mara Wild's beautiful illustrations. Wild has drawn in a digital, minimalist style with a simple powder-blue, navy, grey, red, white, and peachy orange colour palette. The simplicity of their illustration style leaves room for emotion to burst off the page. The happiness, pain, love, and dejection that the character's experience comes across so clearly in Wild's illustrations; readers will become emotionally invested within the first chapter. Once you pick up Two-Week Wait it'll be incredibly hard to put it back down again ... Two-Week Wait captures many facets of the IVF experience, hence making it an excellent graphic novel to educate people and start a healthy conversation around the highs and lows of IVF. Moreover, the language and illustrations within are very easy to understand and follow, making Two-Week Wait an accessible text which could be used in a high-school-aged educational setting.'
-- Lauren Pratt * Underground Writers *'The intimate struggles of a husband and wife desperate to become parents might not be universal literary fare, but with millions of couples worldwide attempting conception via IVF, Two-Week Wait will surely, deservedly find sympathetic audiences... an insightful, moving tale.'
-- Terry Hong * Shelf Awareness *'Readers are taken along their journey through the process, through the anxiety of waiting for answers, and then finding out nope, nothing is clear cut as they thought ... I found myself immersed in their story, in their heartache and their joy during the process ... I can see just how well the format of a graphic novel can lend itself to all sorts of different stories.'
* pop.edit.lit *'I really enjoyed Two-Week Wait. I thought it was a well-written book that handled an incredibly sensitive topic very well and did a great job showing how the difficult and expensive process of IVF works ... I thought Mara Wild did a great job illustrating the character's emotions and the mental and physical strain that the IVF process puts on them. I liked her use of soft colours and sweeping shapes and lines. She was able to put a lot of emotion into scenes with just the stroke of a pencil. I think this book would be great for couples who are going through IVF or who are considering it.'
-- Marisa Quinn-Haisu * Weekend Notes *'Anyone looking for the thoughts of someone who has gone through the journey of trying to conceive, infertility testing, of deciding what treatments to pursue, of determining to continue the path, and IVF or is looking for tips on what to do and not to do when talking about infertility and IVF will find a good resource in this book ... Mara Wild does a fantastic job at providing context to the story and illustrating the invisible emotions and pain ... It gives the reader an empathetic look at the experience. I recommend this to anyone wanting to know more about the infertility and IVF process, especially from a mental health perspective.'
-- Alice Jaggers * Graphic Medicine *'Two-Week Wait is as much a medical text as it is a depiction of the emotional, corporeal and financial vicissitudes, that are commonplace in patient descriptions of assisted reproductive technologies.'
-- Jennifer Takhar * Graphic Medicine *Awards
Short-listed for Graphic Medicine International Collective (GMIC) Award for the Outstanding Health-Related Comic 2022 (United States).
Book Information
ISBN 9781913348649
Author Luke Jackson
Format Paperback
Page Count 160
Imprint Scribe Publications
Publisher Scribe Publications
