Love Languages by James Albon

This tender depiction of love and how it can help transcend the barriers of language is a wonderful slow-burn romance that feels almost autobiographical — even if some of the slow burn means that the romance itself doesn’t feel so much felt as described.

But that’s almost to be expected in a book centered on words and language barriers. James Albon does a phenomenal job of describing, as perhaps only a graphic novelist can, the rivers of words that swirl around lonely, awkward expatriates trying to make connections in foreign countries. His main characters, Sarah and Ping, feel somewhat like islands isolated in the stream of camaraderie forged by those who do share fluency. The way they come together is heartwarming, and a lovely ode to the power of love to bridge all obstacles.

Sarah has a vaguely described but well-remunerated job in Paris, where she’s moved to from London. She’s always been a bit of a loner, but the college bro vibe of her department doesn’t help her make friends, especially as they’re assigned increasingly ridiculous and futile tasks to salvage the company’s reputation. She spends her time when not at work trying to learn French and roaming the streets of Paris, battling her feelings of isolation by desperately reminding herself that she probably just needs to try harder.

After an unpleasant encounter with a duo of street mimes, she’s approached by Ping, another young woman pushing a stroller with a baby in it. Ping is sympathetic, despite not having much French or English. She is, however, fluent in Cantonese, being from Hong Kong. The two women slowly build up a friendship as they work at understanding each other’s languages, and eventually build up to something more.

As someone who feels love in her body, the more cerebral nature of this romance didn’t quite hit me the way most other love stories do. But I really enjoyed the way Sarah and Ping’s relationship blossomed, and I suffered with them as they hit the inevitable obstacles that always arise over the course of true love. Mr Albon’s art and colors do a terrific job illustrating the story, but it’s his use of lettering that really makes this graphic novel shine. Granted, the Bahasa is bad (at least in the review copies I had) but the rest of the languages swirling around the page are convincing, and perfectly evoke life in a cosmopolitan setting.

Perhaps the greatest achievement of this book is how it illustrates the fluidity of language, as Sarah and Ping hop from French to English to Cantonese and back — sometimes all in the same sentence — to communicate. Given that the book was written for English-speaking audiences, the translations of the other two languages are attached in lovely little banners to their speech bubbles, an unobtrusive but entirely helpful way to understand everything that’s going on. It’s a highly impressive feat of storytelling that probably wouldn’t be possible in any other medium. Animated film might come close: Marjane Satrapi’s Persepolis comes to mind as an adaptation that actually made me cry harder in the film version than the comic book, which I also adored. I’d definitely go see a film version of Love Languages in theaters!

Love Languages by James Albon was published May 6 2025 by Top Shelf Productions and is available from all good booksellers, including