Cassandra Darke

Simmonds is a copper-bottomed genius… she is as brilliant a writer as Britain has. – Jenny Colgan * Mail Online *Scrooge is reimagined for 21st-century London in Posy Simmonds’s devilishly good graphic novel, Cassandra Darke — her first in a decade. Cassandra is a marvellous creation… There is too much clever detail in each of the panels to take in everything at first read — but Cassandra is an antiheroine you’ll want to return to. – Siobhan Murphy * The Times *Simmonds has long been something of a national treasure. – Teddy Jamieson * Herald Scotland *[This] glorious, inky black tale about a mean-spirited old bag of a Chelsea art deal provides more proof of [Posy Simmond’s] genius. – Rachel Cooke * Observer, Books of the Year *The new graphic novel by cartoonist, writer and national treasure Posy Simmonds… is a page-turner, [but] it’s impossible to gallop through words and pictures that are so richly textured, so sharply observed. – Francis Wheen * Mail on Sunday *A Christmas crime story that’s bags of fun… Simmonds’ pictorial storytelling is a joy. – Anthony Cummins * Metro *Simmonds’ drawings are exquisitely observed, and seamlessly incorporate text messages and online news reports. Her muted palette, with occasional splashes of colour, is absorbing and in the curmudgeonly Cassandra… Simmonds has produced another character that comes living and breathing off the page. – Carl Wilkinson * Financial Times *Posy Simmonds’s delightful new graphic novel Cassandra Darke, full of wonderfully observed vignettes… [is] treasurable. – David Sexton * Evening Standard Books of the Year *[Posy Simmonds] is back with a new anti-heroine… [and] jewel-sharp illustrations. – Claire Armitstead * Guardian *Posy Simmonds is the mother of the British graphic novel… The end [of Cassandra Darke] is startlingly poignant, and like all good satire it has a quiet reflection on human mortality at its heart. – Lucy Lethbridge * Tablet *

Posy Simmonds is the author of many books for adults and children, including Gemma Bovery, Lulu and the Flying Babies and Fred, the film of which was nominated for an Oscar. She has won international awards for her work, including the 2009 Grand prix de la critique bande dessinee for Tamara Drewe and the 2024 Grand Prix at France’s Angoulame International Comics festival for a lifetime’s achievement. Both Gemma Bovery and Tamara Drewe have been made into successful feature films. Her third graphic novel, Cassandra Darke was published in 2018. She lives in London.