The Penguin Podcast is back! Listen Now
The Tale of One Bad Rat

The Tale of One Bad Rat

Select a format:

Retailers:

Summary

Winner of the Eisner Award for Best Graphic Album Reprint, The Tale of One Bad Rat is the story of a young girl, Helen Potter, who runs away from home to escape an uncaring mother and a sexually abusive father. Eventually she finds her way to the Lake District, drawn there by her love of the work of Beatrix Potter, and in that beautiful landscape she at last finds peace.

Reviews

  • 'It would be easy to simply categorise The Tale of One Bad Rat as a fine fiction about overcoming the effects of abuse. And it is that, but it is more than that: it's a lovingly crafted story about, in the end, the meaning and value of fiction and art, about what we take from the past, and what we bring to the future. With it, Bryan Talbot moves into the front rank of writer/artists.'
    Neil Gaiman

About the author

Bryan Talbot

Bryan Talbot was born in 1952. He has worked on underground comics, science fiction and superhero stories such as Judge Dredd and Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight. His books include Alice in Sunderland, Dotter of Her Father’s Eyes (with Mary Talbot), the first graphic novel to win the Costa biography award, and the Grandville series.
Learn More

Sign up to the Penguin Newsletter

For the latest books, recommendations, author interviews and more