{"product_id":"parallel-9781637151006","title":"Parallel","description":"\u003cb\u003eA 2023 GLAAD Media Award Nominee for Outstanding Original Graphic Novel\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cb\u003eA 2023 ALA Best Graphic Novel for Adults\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cb\u003eIn \u003ci\u003eParallel\u003c\/i\u003e, creator Matthias Lehmann deftly explores the complexities of being gay at a time when queer relationships were forbidden. Torn between his longing for a family and his simultaneous desire for gay love, Karl Kling hides his homosexuality from his wife and child while pursuing male romances in 1950s Germany. \u003c\/b\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eKarl Kling's story is one of revelations, and these he has addressed in a letter to his daughter, Hella, who had disowned Karl many years ago. Karl's letter is a cri de coeur from a father to a daughter he never really got to know, and he comes clean to her about his failed marriages, his fractured family relations--and his love for men. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eTaking place between the end of World War II and the 1980s, \u003ci\u003eParallel \u003c\/i\u003echronicles Karl's efforts to comply with social norms in order to keep his sexuality a secret. It also paints a picture of a life torn between conformity and rebellion, and the cruel realities of twentieth-century German society, where homosexuality was proscribed and punishable until 1994. Matthias Lehmann poignantly depicts the story of a decades-long yearning to live an open and free life, and the price Karl and those he loves must pay for it. It is also a story of finding the courage to finally tell the truth no matter the obstacles...or the cost.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eMatthias Lehmann, born in Leipzig in 1983, completed his studies and master's degree at the Dresden Academy of Fine Arts. He drew the comic \u003ci\u003eClaude Monet\u003c\/i\u003e (Prestel Verlag), publishes zines, and is regularly featured in the German comic anthology \u003ci\u003eJazam\u003c\/i\u003e. In 2018, he was one of the finalists for the Comic Book Prize of the Berthold Leibinger Foundation for \u003ci\u003eParallel\u003c\/i\u003e, and in 2019, he received the Ginco Award for the Best Short Comic. He lives in Germany.\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"Oni Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50717467214098,"sku":"9781637151006","price":21.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_7ec1830a-4ecc-43f3-81b2-cbdab5db88f8.jpg?v=1734618159","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/parallel-9781637151006","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}