When her husband leaves for the Crusade, Lady Dionea remains alone to take care of her castle and of her two children. Inexperienced in such a role, she feels frightened by the task. Her children’s tutor, Giacomo, a cleric, seems at first hostile to her. Dionea will have to gain the support of her husband’s council, the trust of the population of her fief, as well as the friendship of Giacomo in order to discover her own quiet strenght.
Set in an imaginary fief in central Italy as the time of the Third Crusade (1189-1192), In Absentia is a stand-alone comic that appeals to lover of intimate graphic novels, Middle Ages and romances featuring members of the clergy. Drawn in 2102 with the support of an Indiegogo campaign, this new edition features also all the sketches done for the campaign backers.
“The world that Cecilia Latella creates in this comic is a Middle Ages that I recognize. Not only is it familiar to me as a historian, but Lady Dionea and Brother Giacomo are characters in their own right. They are not clichés of the desperate noble lady, or the vice ridden monk. No, the characters are there to explore the more universal issues of solitude, duty and the gulfs that this can create. Where masks are seen, but never really removed. All of this is done using only the sparest dialog to communicate. This is not a story where things happen all at once, but it is a full story nonetheless. The quiet and tension of absence lets change flourish, not just for Lady Dionea, but also for the her land.” (From the introduction by historian Anne Holloway.)