Thursday, March 15, 2012

Similar Covers: Woman at the Window II

Jackie (Farm Lane Books Blog) recently posted the 2012 Orange Prize Longlist, which included a book with a familiar cover, Foreign Bodies by Cynthia Ozick (Atlantic Books, 2011) . You might remember that I featured another book with the same cover image in a series of lookalike covers of a woman at a window: Fire in the Blood by Irène Némirovsky (Random House, 2008). I also found a third book that matches this set, Gen nicht so schnell in diese dunkle Nacht (Don’t Go Through That Dark Night So Fast) by António Lobo Antunes (Random House, 2004).


While I like the photo of the woman, I can’t say that I like the composition of any of these covers. If you look closely, you’ll notice there’s a vehicle outside the window in the first and third covers, which has been removed in the middle one.

I also featured Eden Close by Anita Shreve (Harcourt, 2004) in my original post, and I’ve since found a mirror-image cover: Unseen by Mari Jungstedt (Macmillan, 2006). Unseen is my favourite of all the covers I’m featuring today—the juxtaposition of the woman at the window in the foreground and the house in the background, with the title in between, makes for a mysterious and appealing cover that draws me in.


Finally, a whole new set:

This last lot is kinda boring in my estimation—the only cover that stands out (though not for the right reasons) is Sashenka. The photoshopped head on that one looks bizarre to me!

7 comments:

  1. I'm not a fan of any of those covers. I'm not sure why the trend to show the back of a person became so popular.

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  2. I agree, I'm not really a fan of those covers. I have no idea how you find all these similar cover...:)

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  3. In the second grouping, it looks like the lady just moved a little bit.

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  4. I kind of like the third set, though that crazy photoshopped head one has got to go. None of the are truly great. I don't think they would call me to the book.

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  5. The older I get the more I understand the trend to show the back of the person!
    It's crazy how they all use the same art with some crazy photoshopping - I agree with you on the fave. I like the way UNSEEN is done vertically instead of horizontally.

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  6. I'm not crazy about any of those covers.

    I read Eden Close when it was first released and it had a very different cover. I never understand the big cover changes between editions but that happens a lot.

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  7. I didn't notice the different head in that last batch of covers until you mentioned it. I have to say though that I actually like the general image of the woman standing at the window looking out.

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