HERE IT IS!
The gorgeous paperback cover for
SONG OF THE SEA
MAID,
out Feb 11th 2016.
So, what does this beautiful new cover tell you about the
book?
I asked some author friends, who haven’t yet read the book,
what the cover suggests to them:
Antonia Honeywell (THE SHIP):
I love the way she’s looking away from the reader to the
horizon, and the contrast between her lovely though constricting silk dress and
the wild, rocky vantage point she’s chosen.
Alison Layland (SOMEONE ELSE’S CONFLICT):
I find it beautiful and intriguing, both her gazing out to
sea and I was drawn to the superimposed nautilus shell which suggests so many
intriguing possibilities.
The beautiful and rugged Berlengas islands, off the coast of Portugal.
Claire Fuller (OUR ENDLESS NUMBERED DAYS):
I loved the muted tones of the picture, and the fact that
she’s so lavishly well dressed, and yet standing on a rocky shore. It looks to
me like she’s waiting for someone, like she might go there and do that every
day. I also really like how the texture of the dress, the rocks and the sea all
echo each other. It really is beautiful.
Emilie du Chatelet, C18th scientist and genius.
Fleur Smithwick (HOW TO MAKE A FRIEND):
That is really beautiful. She looks like she’s yearning for
her lover. It really tells a story.
An C18th captain of the Royal Navy.
Sarah Todd Taylor (ARTHUR AND ME):
I love the font of your name (I’m a bit of a font fan – I
blame my childhood as a printer’s daughter). Apart from my font-geekery and it
just being flat out beautiful (I think it’s the colour of her dress, just so
lovely), one of the things I love about this is that she is looking out to sea.
It makes me ask the question ‘why’? What has she seen? Or heard? I like book
covers that make me ask questions – I’m more likely to pick up the book to find
out the answer.
Jane Lythell (THE LIE OF YOU & AFTER THE STORM):
One word to describe this cover: Enchanting.
Ancient cave art of mermaids and other figures.
Jo Bloom (RIDLEY ROAD):
It speaks to me of yearning, of longing. But also you have
no idea of whether she is expecting someone…or whether she’s in despair,
searching for someone who might not come…Her dress is
beautiful, as are the colours. And I love the typeface they’ve used for your
name!
Jenny Ashcroft (DIE FRAUEN VOM ROSE SQUARE):
This is such a stunning, atmospheric cover, conjuring
feelings of mystery and longing. I find myself desperate to know what has
brought this woman to the sea’s edge – what has her so captivated as she stares
out at the waves? What (or who) is she looking for?
Jason Hewitt (THE DYNAMITE ROOM & DEVASTATION ROAD):
Very, very beautiful!
Azure waters surround the Berlengas islands.
And here’s what some authors who’ve already read it had to
say about why they feel it’s perfect for the book:
Iona Grey (LETTERS TO THE LOST):
Firstly, it’s beautiful and atmospheric, which perfectly
matches the writing. And secondly, the woman standing on her own looking out to
the horizon is absolutely symbolic of Dawnay’s independent and adventurous
spirit. Something about her posture suggests curiosity and restlessness and I
want to find out what it is she’s looking for.
Louise Walters (MRS SINCLAIR’S SUITCASE):
It captures the atmosphere of the novel, its romanticism and
adventurous spirit. It’s eye-catching and I’d definitely pick that up in a
bookshop to read the blurb! And the colours are lovely.
C18th ships caught in a terrible storm.
Beth Miller (WHEN WE WERE SISTERS & THE GOOD NEIGHBOUR):
I love the colours, especially her dress; it is exactly how
I imagined the intrepid Dawnay would look.
S.D. Sykes (PLAGUE LAND & THE BUTCHER BOY):
I love the colours and the mystery of it. What is a girl
dressed in such a beautiful dress doing on a rock? Which is kind of a metaphor
for the book itself – women in unexpected places.
Stunning Fornells on the north coast of Menorca.
Martine Bailey (AN APPETITE FOR VIOLETS & THE PENNY
HEART):
The contrasts are well represented: we see Dawnay’s mind at
the centre of the page and the story, at the heart of the nautilus shell that
fascinates her. She looks out to sea as she searches for the answers to the
scientific questions she is working on.
Sophie Germain, C18th mathematician who fought to be educated.
Sarah Jasmon (THE SUMMER OF SECRETS):
I adore this cover, and how it has Dawnay on her island
looking out into the possibilities of the world. Although I love the dreaminess
of the original cover, it says more about the mermaids somehow. This tells me
more about the book itself.
The lovely hardback cover for Song of the Sea Maid.
Vanessa Lafaye (SUMMERTIME):
I like the superposition of the nautilus over the figure of
Dawnay. That shadow adds interest to the image but also hints at her adventures
to come, while its shape is feminine and mysterious.
Fossils I found on Charmouth beach.
I agree! And for me, that lovely ammonite fossil echoes the
shape the sun would make on the horizon – as Dawnay says: “I want to go where
the sun sets.” Dawnay is a woman out of place in her world, always looking
beyond the edge of the map. An C18th woman of science – a naturalist and
palaeontologist – in an age where women were seen as inferior in all respects.
And she is an orphan, who perhaps does not understand the importance of love
until it finds her. She stands on rocky ground, a romantic figure in her
beautiful, sunshiny dress, but there are troubled skies ahead for her and for
the age in which she lives…So, for me, this is the perfect cover.
If this has whetted your appetite for the paperback, you can
pre-order here, right NOW!
https://www.waterstones.com/book/song-of-the-sea-maid/rebecca-mascull/9781473604377
Thanks to all my author friends for offering their thoughts.
All their books are also out right NOW! So check them out too!
And thanks to the design department at Hodder &
Stoughton, who have come up with the goods again, and done such a stunning job.
So, what do you think of the cover?
Whether you’ve read it
already or not, let me know!
Tweet me:
https://twitter.com/rebeccamascull
Let me know on Facebook:
My author page – https://www.facebook.com/RebeccaMascull/
My me page – https://www.facebook.com/becca.mascull
My Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/rebeccamascull/
Thanks for reading. 🙂
