''Becoming Unbecoming'' is a 2015

graphic novel A graphic novel is a long-form, fictional work of sequential art. The term ''graphic novel'' is often applied broadly, including fiction, non-fiction, and anthologized work, though this practice is highly contested by comic scholars and industry ...

by English author

Una Una and UNA may refer to: Places * 160 Una, the asteroid "Una", an asteroid named after the Faerie Queene character * Una River (disambiguation), numerous rivers * Una, Himachal Pradesh, a town in India ** Una, Himachal Pradesh Assembly constit ...

. It depicts the effects of

misogyny Misogyny () is hatred of, contempt for, or prejudice against women. It is a form of sexism that is used to keep women at a lower social status than men, thus maintaining the societal roles of patriarchy. Misogyny has been widely practiced fo ...

and

sexism Sexism is prejudice or discrimination based on one's sex or gender. Sexism can affect anyone, but it primarily affects women and girls.There is a clear and broad consensus among academic scholars in multiple fields that sexism refers primari ...

on twelve-year old Una growing up in northern

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

in 1977 while the

Yorkshire Ripper Peter William Sutcliffe (2 June 1946 – 13 November 2020) was an English serial killer who was dubbed the Yorkshire Ripper (an allusion to Jack the Ripper) by the press. Sutcliffe was convicted of murdering 13 women and attempting t ...

is on the loose, creating a panic among townspeople. The novel follows two different timelines. The first deals with the

rape Rape is a type of sexual assault usually involving sexual intercourse or other forms of sexual penetration carried out against a person without their consent. The act may be carried out by physical force, coercion, abuse of authority, or ag ...

of the author, and her subsequent harassment and shaming by the community. The second deals with the British police manhunt for the Yorkshire Ripper, show how police frequently blamed the victims instead of following leads. The novel was published on September 30, 2015, in the U.K. and November 1, 2016, in North America. There are two English language editions: the original 2015 UK edition published by

Myriad Editions Myriad Editions is an independent UK publishing house based in Brighton and Hove, specialising in topical atlases, graphic non-fiction and original fiction, whose output also encompasses graphic novels that span a variety of genres, including me ...

and the North American edition published in 2016 by

Arsenal Pulp Press Arsenal Pulp Press is a Canadian independent book publishing company, based in Vancouver, British Columbia. The company publishes a broad range of titles in both fiction and non-fiction, focusing primarily on underrepresented genres such as und ...

. The book has been translated into Spanish, French, Dutch, Turkish, Italian and Portuguese (Brazilian). ''Becoming Unbecoming'' was named a top ten book on the

Amelia Bloomer List Rise: A Feminist Book Project, formerly known as the Amelia Bloomer Project and compiled by the American Library Association, is an annual list of books with significant feminist content that are intended for readers from birth to age 18. The Amel ...

in 2017. The French edition of ''Becoming Unbecoming'' — ''L'Une D'Elles'' — was awarded the Prix Artémisia 2019 du combat féministe.

References

{{reflist

External links

Author's website

Publisher's website
2015 British novels Autobiographical graphic novels British graphic novels British young adult novels Feminist novels