Ginseng Roots

When Blankets debuted in 2003, Craig Thompson’s memoir of first love and lost faith in rural Wisconsin captivated readers and earned multiple Eisner and Harvey Awards. Now, in his long-awaited return to autobiographical storytelling, Thompson explores the story that Blankets left untold.

Ginseng Roots follows Craig and his siblings as they spend their youth weeding and harvesting coveted American ginseng on rural Wisconsin farms for a dollar an hour. Through his signature pen-and-ink illustrations, Thompson intertwines these formative summers with the 300-year history of the global ginseng trade—linking ancient Chinese harvesters, industrial farmers, migrant laborers, and his own family navigating the lingering shadows of the past.

Spanning Marathon, Wisconsin, to Northeast China, Ginseng Roots is a sweeping meditation on labor, legacy, and the search for home in a rapidly changing world—a deeply human story rendered in breathtaking visual detail.