--- product_id: 47012544 title: "Gast" brand: "carol swain" price: "£54.30" currency: GBP in_stock: false reviews_count: 3 url: https://www.desertcart.co.uk/products/47012544-gast store_origin: GB region: Great Britain --- # Gast **Brand:** carol swain **Price:** £54.30 **Availability:** ❌ Out of Stock ## Quick Answers - **What is this?** Gast by carol swain - **How much does it cost?** £54.30 with free shipping - **Is it available?** Currently out of stock - **Where can I buy it?** [www.desertcart.co.uk](https://www.desertcart.co.uk/products/47012544-gast) ## Best For - carol swain enthusiasts ## Why This Product - Trusted carol swain brand quality - Free international shipping included - Worldwide delivery with tracking - 15-day hassle-free returns ## Description Full description not available ## Images ![Gast - Image 1](https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/51t1RCDW8BL.jpg) ![Gast - Image 2](https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/31byagWCMIL.jpg) ## Customer Reviews ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐ Poignant and touching *by J***2 on Reviewed in the United States on June 22, 2019* loved the art style. ### ⭐⭐⭐ An improvement over the author's previous work, but not great *by K***T on Reviewed in the United States on November 27, 2018* Despite seeing this graphic novel on more than one "best of comics" list, I was VERY hesitant to pick it up -- I'd read a previous graphic novel by the author/illustrator, "Foodboy," and found it awful. Still, I'll usually give most writers more than one chance, and so despite my misgivings I opted to pick up "Gast." And it's better than "Foodboy" by a fair margin... but I'm still baffled at how it can be considered one of the greatest graphic novels out there."Gast" follows Helen, a girl whose family has recently moved to a new home in rural Wales. She wanders the countryside, fascinated by nature and taking notes about her surroundings. As she converses with the animals, she learns of a "rare bird" that has recently died... and discovers that said "rare bird" is Emrys, a farmer who had a penchant for wearing makeup and women's clothes and ended up committing suicide. Helen sets out to unravel the mystery of who Emrys was, and what led him to take his own life, and in the process ends up connecting with the many lives who touched Emrys'.I'm still not terribly fond of the art style in Carol Swain's work -- very sketchy and often crude -- but at least it's improved some between "Foodboy" and "Gast." There's more detail when needed, shading has improved, and images aren't so cluttered and hard to make out. All the human characters still have the same face, however, and don't emote terribly well. Perhaps I'm just not a fan of the "indie comic" style...The story is more coherent here than in "Foodboy" as well, and though it's fairly slow-paced it's thoughtful and quietly tragic, giving us glimpses into the life of a troubled character and the girl investigating his life and death. The "talking animals" angle is never fully explained -- is it a figment of Helen's imagination or does she really have the knack to communicate with the dogs, sheep, and birds? -- but I didn't mind this going unexplained, as it added to the dreamy, phantasmagorical feel of the story. I was a bit disappointed that said story didn't have much payoff in the end... but that's true to real life, in a way. Rarely do mysteries have a neat, satisfactory ending, and sometimes people remain mysteries no matter how closely you examine their lives."Gast" was a quietly intriguing read, and I found myself enchanted rather than repelled like I was with "Foodboy." But while comparatively better and actually memorable, the art style is still a turn-off, and the story tends to wander quite a bit and is unevenly paced. It's definitely worth a look, but I'm still baffled as to how it can belong on any "best of" lists. ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Beautiful, sad, and compassionate story *by S***S on Reviewed in the United States on December 17, 2017* This graphic novel by Carol Swain focuses on an 11-year-old girl named Helen who has just moved with her family to rural Wales. Helen is a quiet girl with a keen interest in nature and keeps her own journal to write about and draw the animals and plants she sees. Her family doesn't seem to mind her roaming all over the countryside which gives her a lot of freedom to see what she wants and talk to local residents.One of the local residents mentions to her a "rare bird" who recently committed suicide. Helen's curiosity is piqued by the idea of an animal that has killed itself, and she is directed to Cuddig Farm. She talks to a couple of dogs at the farm and learns the rare bird was not so much a bird as a person -- Emrys Bowen, a reclusive and lonely farmer who wore makeup and bright hair dye and dressed as a woman.Helen works to learn more about Emrys. Some of her detective work involves searching the area around Cuddig Farm She finds some of Emrys' belongings, chiefly a cosmetic kit and a spent shotgun shell. She also interviews other people around the area, as well as Emrys' dogs and the Tup, a ram in Emrys' herd of sheep, about what they knew about Emrys. She's one of only two people to attend Emrys' funeral (the other is the Avon Lady -- she thought she was providing makeup for Emrys' sister). Finally, she takes an all-day outing to a small cafe just over the border in England, where Emrys traveled every day to eat lunch. The waitress remembers Emrys fondly, but they only ever had one short conversation over the course of many years.Helen's investigation of Emrys' life is the dominant plotline of the book, but it isn't the only element of the story. Helen is also busy investigating the country she's moved to, sketching the animals and birds she meets, writing down new Welsh words she learns, learning the hard facts about how to run a farm, and wandering across the landscape for page after beautiful black-and-white page. While Emrys' story is sad, it's far from the only sad story she encounters. Other humans who Helen meets suffer from the loneliness and isolation of the rural setting. And the Tup has his share of hardships, including a diseased foot that could get him put down early -- Helen's conversations with the Tup are some of the most beautiful, heartbreaking, and insightful in the book.For all the sorrow of the book, the empathy it brings to its characters is even greater. Though the book consistently refers to Emrys as male, this feels like a storytelling decision -- rural settings are rarely the most enlightened of locales, and the local residents may have never even heard of terms like "gender identity" or "gender dysphoria." Helen's education on these matters is also probably rudimentary. In fact, the book never states outright whether Emrys is transgender or is merely cross-dressing. I suspect that she is transgender, however, and her suicide may have come about because of her isolation and unhappiness.However, you never hear any character express contempt for Emrys. The locals may have thought she was strange. The animals may have considered her to be a man. Helen may see her as a mystery to unravel. But none of them express dislike for her, and more than one says words to the effect of "That's just the way things go." And the egg man who first tells Helen about Emrys refers to her as a "rare bird" -- if he meant "bird" as a slang term for "woman," acceptance for who Emrys was may have been more widespread than we expect. And Helen's investigation into Emrys' past guarantees there's at least one person who will probably remember Emrys for life.You should pick this one up. It's a beautiful and compassionate story, and you won't soon forget it. --- ## Why Shop on Desertcart? - 🛒 **Trusted by 1.3+ Million Shoppers** — Serving international shoppers since 2016 - 🌍 **Shop Globally** — Access 737+ million products across 21 categories - 💰 **No Hidden Fees** — All customs, duties, and taxes included in the price - 🔄 **15-Day Free Returns** — Hassle-free returns (30 days for PRO members) - 🔒 **Secure Payments** — Trusted payment options with buyer protection - ⭐ **TrustPilot Rated 4.5/5** — Based on 8,000+ happy customer reviews **Shop now:** [https://www.desertcart.co.uk/products/47012544-gast](https://www.desertcart.co.uk/products/47012544-gast) --- *Product available on Desertcart Great Britain* *Store origin: GB* *Last updated: 2026-04-30*