Grand book, shame about ...

....the cover!
    What relevance this cover has to the excellent novel it contains I cannot begin to understand. Ignore it - and the title, which was changed from the hardback one of "The Winter Sea" (which is relevant to the story), and read this engrossing mix of historical fiction and contemporary romance.
      Sophia's Secret by Susanna Kearsley features Carrie McClelland, a best-selling novelist who comes to Cruden Bay on the Aberdeenshire coast to research her next book. The heroine of her eighteenth century story proves to have more in common with Carrie than she first suspected, and as events unfold in both the present day and in 1708, the plot twists in a most satisfying way. Here's a book with masses of historical detail, interesting use of the concept of genetic memory, and true romance, all perfectly pitched and consequently a real page-turner. I loved it, but with all due respect to the cover designer, was this image meant for another book?

Comments

[Simon S]

It's funny how publishers choose book covers. Last year the hardback cover of one of my fav reads, The Spare Room by Helen Garner, was brilliant and was just right. The paper back one is very chick lit and will put off a lot of readers when its an amzing book for anyone, not just women. This book sounds quite interesting though I am not a fan of the cover either.

[Tara]

This sounds very good -I'm going to make a note of it. I wonder about cover choices too, and the name change of this book in particular. I suppose they're just trying different ways to market it for the sake of $$.

[Danielle]

This sounds like just what I'm looking to read at the moment. Unfortunately it's not been published in the US, and I've been very bad lately about ordering from TBD (I keep telling myself no more for a while...). The cover doesn't seem to fit the contents at all. I've noticed that an author I like to read has a new book coming out with the most awful cover--not matching her previous books, and it's sort of disappointing. I suppose it is just marketing, but I think they shut out readers rather than draw them in--but what do I know! :)

[Anne]

maybe they're trying to attract a new readership - presuming that those readers who know an author will be loyal and buy the latest novel despite the cover choice - wider readership, more sales, better for the author and the reader in the long run.