Unterzakhn

Unterzakhn — Yiddish for “underthings,” as in underwear — is the first book of Leela Corman’s New York trilogy, a hand-painted graphic novel about twin sisters growing up in the tenements of the Lower East Side at the dawn of the 20th century. One sister becomes a provider of birth control and reproductive healthcare for poor immigrant women; the other becomes a sex worker and a showgirl. Their divergent paths map the brutal choices available to women — particularly Jewish immigrant women — in a world that offered them almost none.

Published by Schocken Books (a Knopf Doubleday imprint dedicated to Judaica), Unterzakhn was acquired after Schocken editorial director Altie Karper spotted Corman’s work in Lilith magazine. “It was Persepolis, but with Jewish girls on the Lower East Side,” Karper said. The book was nominated for the Eisner Award, the LA Times Book Prize, and France’s Prix Artemisia, and won the MoCCA Arts Festival Award of Excellence. Corman’s expressive watercolor-and-gouache style — deeply informed by classic figure painting — gives the tenements, the vaudeville stages, and the pushcart markets a tactile, lived-in texture.

Perfect for fans of Marjane Satrapi’s Persepolis, Alison Bechdel’s Fun Home, and Will Eisner’s A Contract with God — graphic novels that use the medium to excavate immigrant life, womanhood, and the hidden histories of the city.

Created by Leela Corman.