1960s relived

‘Baby's in Black’ is a touching love story, and there is added interest because it involves someone who used to play with ‘The Beatles.’ Set in 1960s Germany, it follows Astrid and her friends. She is a photographer and gets persuaded to go to a rough part of town to see an unknown band.

The art style is very reminiscent of the 60s. Black and white line drawings work really well and make it surprisingly very easy to tell the characters apart. It works so well that some pages have no dialogue but still tell an emotional story.

This is a biography; I really didn’t know much about the people involved (apart from ‘The Beatles’). No knowing who Astrid was does not matter. The characters are well realised and so sympathetic that the reader is really hoping things will turn out for the best.  It is translated from German but it has been done so well that the reader doesn’t realise it’s a translation.

There’s mention of drugs, cigarettes and alcohol, so this  is not for children. Teenagers would get something out of this because of the realism of the club scene. It is an unusual love story that could appeal to anybody.