Set fourteen years after the Salem witch trials, Lies In The Dust is a graphic about historical figure Ann Putnam coming to terms with the damage she dealt to Salem and the remorse that moved her to publicly apologize. Over the course of the narrative, Ann extensively reflects on her family's involvement in abetting the trials and consequent ostracization from the surviving members of her community. As the setting bounces between the present year of 1706 and the past in 1692, the full extent of Ann's crimes are revealed to the reader. Over a decade after the conclusion of the trials, Ann writes a letter of apology to read to her congregation. For such an emotional tale of fear and guilt, the art is markedly stark in its design and execution, …show more content…
The novel’s first use of truly organic shape is small and almost overlookable (page 108), similar to Ann’s first trepidatious words of regret (page 18), but soon the ink nearly saturates each page as continues her Ann’s historical confession, echoing a sudden release of emotion. The ink flows into recognizable shapes to illustrate metaphors for Ann’s fears and regrets, but is still markedly unhindered by the angular constraints that fill the rest of the novel and Ann’s other small concessions to guilt. Its unconstrained run-off finally dries just as Ann stands in full view of her church (page 119), apparently too spent to provide dialogue to announce her arrival, as if she has wrung herself dry by recording her confession. The recording her of guilt and regrets is an emotional, exhausting experience for her, as seen in the minute detail of words crossed out as she revises her confession (page 109. Unlike the rush of ink, Ann’s emotions did not flow unimpeded across the page, a final echo of the emotional constrainment of the past decade and