One book, five covers

Titles and book covers always tell a story. My debut novel THE LIE OF YOU has been translated into German, Norwegian and Italian and I’ve been fascinated at how the UK and foreign version titles and covers have highlighted different aspects of the story.

Essentially the novel is an examination of jealousy that tips into obsession. In alternating chapters we get the point of view of the two main characters: warm, insecure Kathy who is a new mum recently promoted to be editor of a prestigious architecture magazine and the mysterious and reserved Heja who was once the face of Finnish TV news and who now works alongside Kathy at the magazine. Heja wants to destroy Kathy.

The first UK cover highlighted the disturbing nature of Heja.

First UK cover from HEAD OF ZEUS

The title THE LIE OF YOU is subtle and intriguing because it is ambiguous. The reader has to work out who the liar is. The action of the novel hinges around a number of lies told both by Heja and by Marcus who is now married to Kathy. Kathy also has her secrets. We see the face of a beautiful, apparently tranquil woman gazing out at us. It is Heja and her face has been fragmented by a broken mirror and, importantly, there is a shadow image of her face in the background. This shadow doubling portrays Heja as one thing on the surface with something else going on underneath, something which is to be feared. It is beauty with a discordant note.

 Paperback cover UK from HEAD OF ZEUS

The second UK cover also highlights a woman looking and again it is Heja who is doing the looking. This time the woman is in profile and there are shadows thrown across her face from half closed blinds. This draws on film noir imagery where shadows always imply skulduggery. It makes you think that the looking is covert and secretive and does the person being watched know that she is being subjected to this intense gaze?

GERMAN cover DENN DU GEHORST MIR from PIPER

The German title is FOR YOU BELONG TO ME and the cover goes full frontal. The title makes it explicit that this is a tale of possessive jealousy bordering on obsession; how can a person ‘belong’ to someone? The ‘You’ and the ‘Me’ are written in huge letters and the ‘You’ is in red for danger. The eyes looking out with the cracks across the facade are unnerving. Again it is Heja, the antagonist, who is the focus of the imagery and the title.

NORWEGIAN cover ALT A MISTE from CAPPELEN DAMM

Alt a Miste means EVERYTHING TO LOSE and this is clever because the phrase could refer both to Heja and to Kathy. Heja is playing for high stakes from the beginning. It takes Kathy a while to figure out that her apparently fortunate life and relationships are under severe threat. Heja is the focus of the cover and the woman that Cappelen Damm chose is exactly how I imagined Heja: an icy blonde with a torrent of emotions beneath her cool exterior. Crazed lines fan out from the middle of Heja’s forehead. There is no mistaking the message here.

ITALIAN cover DIMMI LA VERITA TUTTA LA VERITA from NEWTON COMPTON

Two things stand out for me with the Italian version: the use of the word truth (rather than the lies of the UK version) and that for the first time the focus is on Kathy rather than Heja. The title: TELL ME THE TRUTH, THE WHOLE TRUTH applies to Kathy. She has been kept in the dark by her husband Markus and his silence has made her vulnerable. Kathy’s pale troubled face emerges from a dark background. Unlike the images which have Heja’s gaze blazing outwards, Kathy is looking down. She is a woman who needs to know the truth and the cover puts us in her position. Our sympathy is with her.

THE LIE OF YOU is available here