Irmina

Barbara Yelin’s Irmina, published by Reprodukt from 2014, is a single, self-contained graphic novel that traces the true story of its title character, a young German woman whose ambitions in 1930s London are derailed by the rise of Nazism. Yelin, who both writes and draws the work, crafts a haunting examination of complicity and moral compromise, using elegant, expressive art to chart Irmina’s transformation from a hopeful, independent spirit to someone who gradually accepts the oppressive society around her. Based on Yelin’s own grandmother’s letters, the book stands as a quietly devastating, historically grounded work that explores how ordinary people navigate extraordinary political pressure.