Page 12 - My FlipBook

About the Author

Manuela Santoni is an illustrator and a cartoonist from Rome, Italy. Born in
1988, she studied art at Rome’s Liceo Artistico (High School of the Arts).
In 2012 she received a degree in contemporary art history from Sapienza
Università di Roma (Sapienza University of Rome). She also attended
Scuola Romana dei Fumetti (the Roman School of Comics), and in 2013
she received a master’s degree in illustration at Ars in Fabula in Macerata,
Italy. Since 2017 she has been a teacher at the Pencil Art comics and
illustration school.
Santoni has illustrated the young adult stories Girl R-Evolution by
Alberto Pellai (De Agostini, 2016) and Storie proprio buffe by Paul Jennings
(Il Castoro, 2016). In 2017 she published the graphic novel Jane Austen
(Beccogiallo Editore, 2017), for North American readers as Jane Austen:
Her Heart Did Whisper (2018). She lives in Fonte Nuova, a community in the
countryside of Rome.

Acknowledgments

This second book was a much greater challenge than my graphic novel about
Jane Austen. There were dark moments, blockages, and second thoughts
that slowed down the early stages of my work. But the first experience taught
me a lot, so I managed to recover lost time. Therefore, I want to thank again
my publisher, which continues to believe in my work. I thank my friends for
their enduring support. I thank my family, which has lovingly surrendered to
the idea that this is the job I’ve always wanted to do.
Additional thanks to Serena Di Battista and Selene Chilla, who carry
on their work writing about the Brontë sisters with exemplary passion and
enthusiasm. They were my consultants throughout the work, always available
although we never met. Thanks to the women who fought for what they loved
in eras that kept them at a disadvantage. They are a constant example for
me. And thanks to comics, beautiful comics, which are an escape from the
ugliness in this world.

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