Us Two Together

At the age of 56, Ephameron’s father was struck by primary progressive aphasia, which meant that he lost his speech and language and gradually succumbed to dementia. His family decided to take care of him at home. ‘Us Two Together’ is his daughter’s autobiographical account of the last ten years of his life. In her distinctive collage style, in which no line or plane of colour is wasted, the author tells a touching story, with words and pictures coming together to form a kaleidoscopic whole.

Ephameron allows three voices to speak: her own, as a voiceover at the bottom of the pages; her father’s diary excerpts, heartrendingly revealing how he desperately tries to hold on to his language; and finally the voice of her father himself, which eventually consists only of sounds.

The illustrations in fragile shades of grey, white and brown are stripped to their essence. This is a poetic, subdued, but all the more poignant book about what happens when a man loses himself.