The Day I Divorced God

December 14, 2020
Tamosan follows up The Day I Was Forced to Marry God, her manga memoir of growing up in a strict Jehovah’s Witness congregation in Japan, by opening up about life with her husband and their young son on their “journey toward reclaiming ‘normal.’ ” Now separated from their congregation and feeling the “25 years spent believing were a complete waste,” Tamosan discovers that she lacks many of the crucial skills of “worldly” society, such as holding down employment and enrolling her child in secular school. She lands a job at a bakery, learns to save money, discovers mainstream holidays and customs, and is baffled by the basics of fashion (“It’s farewell to all my floral-print dresses!”). All the while, her mother and mother-in-law, still members of the Witnesses, fight to bring Tamosan and her husband back into the fold. Tamosan’s art has grown considerably more polished in this sequel, but remains simple, readable, and emotionally direct, equally effective at expressing fiery family arguments and the quiet joy of indulging in a once-forbidden Frappuccino. Though Tamosan and her family often struggle, the overall mood is of discovering joy in the day-to-day. “To think I believed that this gentle, kind world would be destroyed in Armageddon,” she marvels. That perspective-granting glimpse into her recovery sums up the hopeful tone of this autobio charmer.