Daphne du Maurier - A Cover Story

Daphne du Maurier's Virago covers have already been mentioned several times and were responsible for the introduction of more than one reader to her work. We decided to go back in time, though, and we found some pretty evocative covers that we thought of sharing with you.



(Pocket Books 1957)

(Pan)




  





(Penguin 1970)

(Doubleday 1952)



(Random House 1992)

(Pocket Books 1946)

(Pocket Books 1949)

(Arrow 1992)

(Pocket Books 1948)

(Avon)

 

Arrow 1992



(Pocket Books 1947)



 

   



(Doubleday 1943)



(Avon)

 These are really just a select few because there are many more out there. Do you have any favourites you would like to share with us?

Farewell, My Queen (Les Adieux à la Reine) - Trailer

(The trailer is in French, I couldn't find an English version)

in 1789, at the eve of the Revolution: Versailles occupants still live happily, unconcerned by the increasing turmoil in Paris. When news about the storming of the Bastille reaches the Court, aristocrats and servants desert the Palace, leaving the Royal Family alone in its suite. But Sidonie Laborde, a young Queen's reader, refuses to flee. She feels secure as she is under protection of the Queen of France. She does not yet know these are the last three days she would spend by her side.

(from Wikipédia)

I've been waiting for this movie for a very long time. At first, Eva Green was cast as Marie-Antoinette, for my greatest joy. After a while, I read somewhere that it was finally Diane Krüger who landed the role of the tragic French queen. I was a tad confused but not at all displeased with this change since Diane seems to physically suit the role better (even if Eva is magnificent and incredibly talented). For what I've been reading and watching, the reviews are not spectacular, but my curiosity didn't diminished. I'm always ready for an historical movie ! What about you ? :)

The movie was adapted from Chantal Thomas' book Les Adieux à la Reine, but you can find the English translation easily.

French cover

UK cover

US cover

Cover story: The Printmaker's Daughter by Katherine Govier

Historical fiction set in Asia, especially in India and Japan, are normally a hit for me. A few days ago I was browsing throught some sites, and I saw this cover:

I was completely flabbergasted. The cover is absolutely gorgeous, the colors are almost hypnotic ! When I visited the author's, Katherine Govier, website I learned that this is the US edition of The Ghost Brush, which cover you can see above.

While japanese art in a cover is always a pleasure, I do prefer the first one. The colors alone made me want to buy the book. Which one do you prefer ?

Phryne Fisher comes to TV

I don't watch a lot of TV. Don't get me wrong. It is always on, but usually just in the background. Even when there is something I think I would like I tend to record it and never actually get around to watching it! I am however sure that will not happen when Kerry Greenwood's Phryne Fisher is shown after being  adapted for TV as a series! I have been trying to find a dedicated trailer but haven't been able to. Instead, you can see a short glimpse of the series in this clip, starting at 1:50.




As soon as there is a proper trailer I will be sure to share it.

Based on just that glimpse the casting seems pretty good, it looks good so hopefully it is!

Along with the TV series, the books in the series are all being rereleased with tie-in covers. Over the years there have been a lot of different cover incarnations for this series. Some have been good, some not quite so! I thought it would be fun to do a bit of a comparison of a couple of the books showing you the cover that my book had when I read it, then my favourites which are the cartoon style covers (oh so much fun and totally fitting the series in my opinion and then the TV tie in.

The first book in the series is Cocaine Blues and here are the three covers:

And here are the covers for the fourth book in the series, Death at Victoria Dock:

To see more of the new TV tie in covers check out http://www.phrynefisher.com/

Cover Story: The Rose Garden by Susanna Kearsley

You may have noticed that we are big fans of Susanna Kearsley here at Historical Tapestry. Her upcoming release, The Rose Garden, was selected as one of our most anticipated new releases of 2011, and so I couldn't go past the opportunity to do a cover story on the book as soon as I saw the US cover images.

So here is the UK cover

And here is the US cover

For all that it is a headless woman cover, I do really like the US cover, especially with the tag line "There's no safety among the thorns"

This book will be released in the UK on 11 May 2011, and in the US in fall by Sourcebooks.

If you are interested you can read the first two chapters of the book at Susanna Kearsley's website, however I am not sure that I would recommend this as it just made me more impatient for the day when I can actually read the whole book!

Cover Story: The Land of the Painted Caves by Jean Auel

So here it is, the cover for the sixth and final book in the Earth's Children series by Jean Auel.

As we discussed when we did a Spotlight on the series not too long ago, it's been a long wait since the last book came out.

What do you think of the cover? Are you going to read it? Are you planning on rereading any of the earlier books first?

Cover story: Pink Carnation series by Lauren Willig

With only a couple of days left in our current giveaway of the latest instalment of the Pink Carnation series, Mischief of the Mistletoe, and a gorgeous Christmas ornament, it seemed like a good time to do a cover story of the series! To me, this series has a really strong identity through its covers, particularly through the first 6 books. I understand that the covers are changing now, which I understand from a marketing point of view but do think is a shame, especially if you have been collecting them for a while.

I am not all that keen on the first UK covers, but do like the second and third ones, and personally I am not a big fan of the cover for the next book either.

Don't forget to go and enter our giveaway after you have finished looking at all this eye candy! And if you like, revisit the Why I Love post that Lauren Willig did for us a while ago on why she loves Men in Black Masks

The Secret History of the Pink Carnation

Right to Left: US Hardcover, UK Hardcover, UK paperback, Australian hardcover, US paperback.


The Masque of the Black Tulip

L to R: Paperback, Hardcover, UK Paperback

The Deception of the Emerald Ring

L to R: UK paperback, hardcover

The Seduction of the Crimson Rose

 

The Temptation of the Night Jasmine

The Betrayal of the Blood Lily

The Mischief of the Mistletoe

The Orchid Affair (release date January 2011)

Cover story: Anna Godbersen

The cover gods love Anna Godbersen. I am hardpressed to name another author who get such consistently good, no, not good, absolutely gorgeous covers!

As soon as I saw the cover for The Luxe I knew I wanted it. I have owned this book for a number of years now, and still haven't read it! I do love to look at it though. This gorgeous cover was followed by another three lovely covers for the rest of the series.

And now, at the beginning of a new series, set in a different era (late 1920's), once again Anna Godberson gets a cover that I would be happy to look at constantly!

Cover Story: Avalon

When your story is set in the 10th century and features some of the most famous names in history, I guess that the covers will reflect the two aspects seen here - either the romance, or the warrior aspects.

Once again, no matter how gorgeous the most recent releases covers are they again feel a little bit out of place amongst the others.

I am a little fascinated by the title of the French version. To my untrained eyes it looks like the Sister of the Vikings, but I could be totally off there! That alone makes me want to wonder how that could possibly fit in with the story of the characters.

Which ones are your favourites?