This book is short listed for a Giller prize. The main character is an older woman who is involved in a car accident with another vehicule. From the back cover: "Absorbed in her own failings, Clara Purdy crashes her life into a sharp left turn, taking the young family in the other car along with her. When bruises on the mother, Lorraine, prove to be late-stage cancer, Clara—against all habit and comfort—moves the three children and their terrible grandmother into her own house." She becomes a surrogate mother to the children which as the novel progresses gives her life a new richness and meaning. It is fleeting however as the mother of the children eventually recovers and takes back her children.
The idea for this cover came from a wall in our house where our kids marked their heights from an early age. I am sure the same wall can be found in any house with children. In the case of the wall markings on the cover there is only one or two entries, as it were, because the children were not there long enough. Her experience echoes that of any parent. Your children pass through your life and then they are gone, leaving behind only remnants of their presence.
4 comments:
This is lovely. I have been following this blog for a while and this cover prompted me to write a comment, because I would pick this book if I saw it and would leaf though it. Well done.
wow. David Gee mentioned this cover in a recent post. I took a look at it and did not know what to think (size matters). But reading this makes this a real treasure and a well thought out piece. Bravo maestro.
I love these walls. My mom grew up in a single house where there is a wall like this. My wife's family in Spain has a summer house where there is a wall (door actually) like this in the kitchen. It reminds me of the fact that I didn't grow up in a single house which for so many is a thing of the past. Still it's a strong connection to family, place. Which is really working here.
When David (whose work I already admired very much) sent four ideas to Freehand Books for us to look at, I saw the other three covers first, and thought they were all good: funny, smart, interestingly tangential, all adding something to the book—but when I saw this one I actually cried (terrible thing to admit), because there was the whole book in one image. Thank you very much, David—I believe that the beauty of the cover has been instrumental in the book's reception. It's great to see your own well-marked wall.
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