Q&A with the Authors of Madame Livingstone
This month, we were proud to release Madame Livingstone, a graphic novel set in the Congo in World War I. Illustrated by Barly Baruti, written by Christophe Cassiau-Haurie, and translated by Ivanka Hahnenberger, Madame Livingstone finds Gaston Mercier, a lieutenant in the Royal Belgian Army, arriving at Lake Tanganyika, Congo in 1915 on orders to sink a critical German warship, the Graf Von Götzen. To aid him on this mission, he is paired with a local guide, an enigmatic mixed-race African and the supposed son of the famous explorer, David Livingstone. Together, while the pair hunts down the ship, Mercier learns more about the land around him and discovers the irrevocable and tragic effects of colonialism on the local people.
We chatted with Barly, Christophe, and Ivanka recently to talk about how the team brought this story to life, the comics scene across the African continent, and what it was like to bring this work to a new audience.
Madame Livingstone is out now, and available through your favorite bookseller. You can also
read an excerpt from the book at our site.