MADAME LIVINGSTONE, Congo, the First World War

110pp., 4to., b/w & colour illus., map, First English Language Edition, Hemley, 2021

First published in French in 2014 as Madame Livingstone - Congo, la grande guerre. Translated by Ivanka Hahnenberger.

Comic about the partnership between aviator Gaston Mercer, lieutenant in the Royal Belgian Military, and an African scout nicknamed 'Madame Livingstone', the supposed son of explorer David Livingstone. Together they undertook a mission to sink the German battleship, the Graf Von Götzen, on Lake Tanganyika in 1916. Based on a story by Appollo.

“There have been countless narratives about people who are 'torn' between two racial heritages, but for the most part, Madame Livingstone felt like a fresh and nuanced character study. Livingstone knows exactly who he is; he has an affinity for his famous father and Scottish heritage, but his central motivation is to protect his African family and community and see the European war in Central Africa end as quickly as possible. The result felt like a nuanced meditation on the forms resistance can take within a colonial system ... [A] unique and important graphic novel.” 2021 VLA Graphic Novel Diversity Award Committee

Library curator and comics specialist Christophe Cassiau-Haurie was born in Douala, Cameroon, in 1968 and raised in France. He is currently Director of Public Services for the National and University Library of Strasbourg. He has authored and contributed to numerous graphic novels in French, most of which are based on African histories.

Congolese cartoonist Baruti Kandolo Lilela, known by his pen name Barly Baruti, was born in 1959 in Kisangani. He is the co-founder of the Atelier de Création et de l’Initiation à l’Art (Creative Workshop for an Initiation to Art) to encourage talented youth in Kinshasa.