Sempe: Sunny Spells

Jean-Jacques Sempe's witty drawings and keen eye for the finer points of the human condition have delighted readers in France and beyond for over forty years. Now, his sharply observed and beautifully drawn cartoons are available in English for the first time. In 'Sunny Spells', originally published in France in 1999, Sempe explores a wide range of topics, from troubled relationships and office politics to doping scandals in the literary world. His cast of characters includes pious churchgoers, amateur painters and lovelorn palaeontologists, as well as psychiatrists, actors and football fans. Many of Sempe's intricate and evocative illustrations are accompanied by laconic, perfectly judged captions, which were translated by Anthea Bell, who also helped to bring Asterix the Gaul to the English-speaking world.