“This is it!” was my first thought, or something just like that. This is my very first book and you have your whole life to write your first book but I never got as far as imagining the cover. And this cover is the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen. I mean really-- If the cover of my book was a person, I take it on a carriage ride around Central Park and then go for a late night espresso and slice of cheesecake and then ask it to move in with me.
What is so amazing about the cover is that And Then Things Fall Apart is about lots of things: first love, literature, poetry, vintage clothes, family, figuring out who you are, books, friendship, fathers, mothers. This cover says it all in a glance. Jessica Handler, the cover designer is a genius!
When you first started writing the book did you ever think that it would have the cover that it has now?
I had this ridiculous idea that it would be an alternative version of a classic The Bell Jar cover so that Sylvia Plath fans would fall in love with it immediately. But as my editor and even Kirkus reviews keep saying- it is not ABOUT Sylvia Plath. The cover puts the book firmly in Keek’s world, where it belongs. I feel like the cover “gets” my book, which is why I love it so…
If you could change one thing about it what would it be?
I wish it were available in poster size so I could wallpaper my office with it.
Was there anything in particular that you wanted the cover to have?
I just knew what I DIDN’T want. I didn’t want any people on the cover, random teenagers kissing or weeping or leaning against cars/lockers/brick walls. No sunsets. No “quirky alternative” girl in striped tights drinking orange juice through a straw.
Who was the first person you showed the cover to and what did you tell them?
My mom. I said something like “Well, there it is…” I was still in shock at its magnificence. And she said “”…and it’s gorgeous!”
You can find Arlaina at these places:
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