Marguerite Abouet was born in Abidjan, Ivory Coast, in 1971. At the age of twelve, she was sent with her older brother to study in France under the care of a great uncle. She currently lives in Romainville, a suburb of Paris, with her husband, illustrator Clément Oubrerie (who illustrates her graphic concepts), and their young son. She left her job as a legal assistant to concentrate on writing full-time, including her two follow-up graphic novels to Aya (Aya of Yop City and Aya: The Secrets Come Out).