Quiet Girl in a Noisy World by Debbie Tung: Review

The title of this book of short comics and the adorable cover illustration drew me in the moment I saw it. "Quiet Girl in a Noisy World" - now that's a title and a concept I can relate to.

As a child I constantly heard about how shy and quiet I was and how I always had my nose in a book. (Clearly, nobody considered this a good thing, on the contrary, it was seen as a definite character flaw.) As an adult I have struggled with introversion and social anxiety, although as I've got older I've learned to deal with it better. I've always needed large amounts of time on my own to enable me to cope with the rest of life, though, and I'm sure I always will.

If you've ever eaten lunch at your desk to avoid socialising with colleagues; pretended not to see an acquaintance on the street to avoid having to make embarrassing small talk; or used the self service checkouts to avoid interacting with an actual person, this book is for you. (I have done all of these things, and felt bad about them.)

Debbie's drawings are charming and engaging, deceptively simple: chronicling her life from postgraduate studies through relationships, marriage and first employment. I related so strongly to her feelings and experiences. It's incredibly heartening to know I'm not the only person to feel secretly relieved when social events are cancelled, or to overthink previous conversations, or to dread making a work phone call in a room full of people.

After reading the section where Debbie takes an online personality test, I was inspired to take one myself. (I came out as an INFP, if anyone's interested, which rings fairly true.)

Ultimately there is a very affirming message here of "it's OK to be you". It's OK to be quiet. It's OK to need (lots of) time alone to rest and recharge. It doesn't make you an inadequate human being. Even if that's what you've always thought.

Introverts of the world - unite! (Oh, wait.)

Debbie Tung is a cartoonist and illustrator from the West Midlands. She shares her comics on Tumblr at Where's My Bubble?