Mademoiselle Else #[nn]

Manuele Fior's adaptation of Arthur Schnitzler's psychological novella arrives as a beautifully rendered graphic album from Delcourt's Mirages imprint. The cover presents a young blonde woman in a red coat, her gaze drifting upward with an air of unease, set against the muted, angular facade of a grand European building — Fior's delicate, watercolor-inflected linework giving the scene an immediately intimate yet melancholic atmosphere. If Schnitzler's portrait of inner turmoil translated you on the page, Fior's quiet, expressive vision of Mademoiselle Else makes a compelling case for the graphic medium in 2009.