Paper Wings
By: Eszter Anna Rácz
Publisher: Weeskinders, Budapest, 2025
Format: Hardback
Lock, paper, scissors
The bonds between mothers and daughters are complex. In Paper Wings, Hungarian author Ester Anna Rácz explores these relationships in full: The need for both freedom and belonging, the fears that women pass down through generations, the wings we might grow and the ties we might experience.
Like all of Weeskinders' artists Rácz makes her art by hand. Her bold brush strokes on textured paper makes reading this silent book an almost tactile experience. She has chosen a restrained, but very effective color palette of blues and pinks. The color choices accentuate the history and helps guide the reader through the book.
Paper wings does not have one, straigh-forward story line, but invites the reader to use her life experiences to fill in the blanks. I write "her", because this is very much a women's book - so many of the feelings and struggles involved will feel universal to all women, regardless of national or cultural background.
Rácz uses simple, but powerful symbols to portray complex emotions: Locks, scissors, rope and wings. She demonstrates an impressive artistic range: From the pink "happy-pictures" that are so pretty they are almost kitchy, to the very striking blue portraits of conflict and sadness. Some of the pictures are so arresting that they feel like a punch in the stomach, like the full spread of an enraged woman screaming, house in hand. Others invite you to breathe and smile.
Paper wings is Rácz second silent book, and she demonstrates a full understanding and high degree of control of this way of telling stories. This would be the perfect book for mothers and daughters to read together, to unlock the conflicts and struggles all women carry.
