Sylvain Savoia

In 1760, the ship, Utile, carrying African captives bound for the slave market, was shipwrecked on Tromelin, a small desolate island 500 kilometres away from Madagascar. With the aid of the Africans, a new ship was built from the remnants of the old but, when it was finally finished and able to leave, the black captives were abandoned. Despite the promises of the captain that he would send rescue, it would be fifteen years before any came for them. When the story of the Tromelin slaves spread around France, it became one of the major pushes for both the abolition of slavery and the Enlightenment.

The Forgotten Slaves of Tromelin is written and drawn by Sylvain Savoia who, two hundred years after this event, accompanied an archaeological crew to the island to try to uncover how the slaves survived on what was hardly more than a barren sandbar. The graphic novel is divided between the dig and life for the archaeological crew and that of the slaves which is based both on what is objectively known about the event both then and now and Savoia's own conjecture based on what the archaeologists uncover. Savoia's art is stunning, showing in great detail what life was like for the captives both on the ship and the island. The story is also beautifully written especially as it shows the suffering of the captives again both on the ship and on the island as well as the indifference to their suffering displayed by their captors. It is a heartrending indictment of the cruelty of the slave trade and the people who plied it. It is also a testament to the resilience of the people who survived and even built a life for themselves in some of the worst conditions imaginable.

The parts of the story concerning the dig are, not surprisingly, much less emotional both in the art and the storyline providing a stark contrast to the shipwreck: the crew has supplies flown in, they have a time schedule for when they will leave, they are in no real danger. Interestingly, although the island is still unoccupied for the most part, there are signs of human existence everywhere in the debris that floats up onto the island and that is having a negative impact on the marine life that exists there.

The Forgotten Slaves of Tromelin is a brilliant use of the graphic novel to tell a true and tragic tale, one that should be more widely known. If I have any criticism, it would be that the prose was often fairly dense and sometimes difficult to read. But this is just a small problem and I would recommend this to anyone interested to better understand the consequences and tragedies of the international slave trade...actually, to everyone because it provides the kind of history that should never be forgotten but is known by few outside a university classroom.

Thanks to Netgalley and Europe Comics for the opportunity too read this book in exchange for an honest review… (meer)