Book Covers that Captivate
I’ve been thinking about book covers lately, how a great cover design draws me into a book. An exquisitely rendered cover design not only captures the tone of the story, it gently reveals the story’s mystery, its secrets. Like any great work of art, a great book cover tells a story of its own, one that compels us to return to it.
I thought I’d share a few of my favorites and would love to hear about yours!
In my opinion, these books boast terrific covers, and, most importantly, the writing and stories within do not disappoint…
The Laguna, by Barbara Kingsolver. The shapes and colors of this cover transport us directly to Mexico, where much of the tale lives. It’s a story of a Mexican American man trying to find his social, cultural, and political footing in two counties. It is also a story about art, and how it survives. A lacuna is a blank space, a missing piece, a black hole. The cover reals a black circle, but we notice there is blue at its center.
Small Things Like These, by Claire Keegan. The perspective of this design is what matters here: we hover in the sky above a village as snow falls gently all around us. We see the collection of rooftops, the community clustered below. It is the story of a coal merchant, a devoted husband and father, whose life turns upside-down when he meets an orphan girl in the days before Christmas. The church and the man stand off and the question is raised, to whom are we responsible?
About Grace, by Anthony Doerr. I chose the original cover, although there is a new version that is also very good. In a palette of gray and steely-blue, the original design depicts the great power and beauty of the natural world, and the tiny miracles of human hope survival within it. A man is born in Anchorage, Alaska; he grows to appreciate the magnificent and brutal climate. He is also fraught with premonitions, and when he dreams his infant daughter will drown in a flood beyond reach of desperate hands, he flees his home, his life, and everything he knows in hopes of saving her.
Swimming Home, by Deborah Levy. Again, I’ve chosen an early cover of this book that I find fascinating. Again, my fascination begins with perspective. We are in the grass - literally in the weeds - observers, voyeurs. We see a pool before us, and the mystery of a woman swimming past, her face beyond our perspective. This story takes place in a villa along the French Riviera in summer, where a strange, somewhat fanatical young woman crosses path with a family on vacation.
