Karlien de Villiers has been critically acclaimed for the publication of her debut graphic novel that deals with the death of her mother set against the socio-political backdrop of Apartheid South Africa during the 1970s-80s, entitled My mother was a beautiful woman.

The novel was published in a German translation in Switzerland as Meine Mutter war eine schöne Frau (Arrache Coeur) and emerged as the second-best seller at the Fumetto International Comics Festival in Lucerne in 2006. The book has since been translated into French as Ma Mère était une très belle femme (Ça et La), Spanish as Mi madre era una mujer hermosa (Glenat) and Italian as Mia madre era una donna bellissima (Comma22) – but has to date not been published in South Africa. She is currently working on her second graphic novel, Les Femmes Sauvages (Die Wildevroue) which will be published in French by Editions Ça et La.

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