A timely graphic memoir about the far-reaching impact of racism in today’s society, as seen through the lens of one couple’s interracial marriage.

Where does the concept of “the other” come from? And who truly benefits when we allow fear of the other to steer our society? Through charming banter and illuminating anecdotes from their personal lives, writer-artist Nick Abadzis and psychotherapist Angela Watson chronicle their nearly forty-year interracial relationship, their respective family histories, and their ongoing experiences with anti-Black racism in Britain and America, from the overt racial taunts of childhood bullies to the more subtle biases of the adult workplace.

In the midst of a dangerous political backlash that threatens to derail decades—if not centuries—of movement towards a more equitable and diverse world, My Beloved Other puts questions of race front and center, and turns a critical eye to the systems that seek to exploit our differences. Above all else, it challenges readers to do what can sometimes feel impossible: keep hope alive for a future where difference is embraced as a source of unity, not division.

This is a tremendous work that made me feel so many emotions, including sadness and frustration. While the book starts out with a couple who met in the UK, Nick and Angela, and talks about the racism and classism experienced there, the shift of when they moved to the United States really spoke to me, as I was born in the US and have lived there most of my life (with a brief exception of living in Japan for six years).

Interspersed with memories from the couple’s lives and stories of their relatives and parents, are observations made from history and society. The art style changes during these scenes, the most poignant and heartbreaking being the ones where Nick and Angela look like Charlie Brown characters and are talking to an alien about things like the origins and reasoning behind racism.

It opened my eyes to how different racism was in the UK versus the US, but how there were similarities, too. (Like the UK’s Golliwog being like an Aunt Jemima or Uncle Ben or Uncle Tom in the USA).

The book covers the 90s into the 2020s with major American milestones of oppression and racism, like the murder of George Floyd.

There is so much that this book covers and examines through the lens of a devoted interracial couple. While the book addresses widespread systemic issues, there are also the smaller aggressions and microaggressions against the couple, too.

This is an incredible work that I honestly I think everyone needs to read. It’s a highly accessible, thought-provoking read that will summon a slew of emotions from you as you turn the page. It had me nearly crying at one point. I can’t recommend this enough.