This is a late (but not final) mockup of the Queen of Swords cover artwork. Gorgeous, is it not? I loved my Homestead cover. The other Wilderness covers? Meh. But this one — I am very pleased.
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My name is Rosina Lippi. I'm a former academic and tenured university professor, writing full time since 2000. Under the pen name Sara Donati I am the author of the Wilderness series, six historical novels that follow the fortunes of a group of families living in upstate New York from about 1792-1825. A new series based on later generations of the same families was launched September 1, 2015 with The Gilded Hour. The next volume in the new series, Where the Light Enters, was released in 2019.
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Wow
Hope the final result is at least similar if not the same
:)
Beautiful. I can’t wait to see it in person.
Oh, that’s beautiful. The colours are so rich and the fabrics of her dress make it seem almost tactile; I want to reach into the picture and touch her. A great improvement over the covers on the rest of the Wilderness series – they are neither unattractive or embarrassing, only very dull and I can’t help but feel that you deserve better then that.
Now, this cover art would draw me from half way across a crowded store.
That is friggin awesome!
is that Hannah? Looks amazing!
I love it! Beautiful!
The voice of dissent…yeesh! I like the other covers; they fit together as a series. This one, I would feel as though I had to hide it at the back of the shelf for fear people would think I was reading a tawdry romance full of heaving bosoms and straining loins. Forget about taking it out on the bus to and from work. Had I not read the other books in the series, I would pass this one by with a roll of my eyes.
It looks different from the other ones. It definitely stands out. Is this the only design for the cover?
I will admit that there is more cleavage here than I would like, but I have to say also that this is nothing like a typical mass market romance.
The clothing is historically accurate and incredibly detailed, and I think it is very eye catching. The old designs were very… sober, I guess. Somber. Boring, even. This is far more to my personal tastes. The only thing is, it reminds me maybe a little too much of Phillipa Gregory’s books — the covers for her Elizabethan historicals.
It’s very exciting, though I wonder (1)who it is in the picture, and (2)what her face looks like. It’s great work, though, and much more fun than the previous books. As Emeril would say, “Bam! This kicks it up a notch.”
PS- In my re-reading efforts, I find myself drawn, not only to the nods to Austen, but also to the food of the Lake in the Clouds crew. The red corn soup, cornbread, etc. Is there a source you used for research for this? I’ve scoured the ‘Net for an authentic-ish cornbread recipe that didn’t contain wheat flour (as Falling Day didn’t use it, I think it said that in one of the books), but with no luck. Thanks!
who IS it? im gonna go crazy wondering that. who IS the queen of Swords? grrrph. i hope it is said explicitly in the novel or else i will have to self destruct.
i cant wait.
gorgeous painting, though i agree with teresa that it doesnt seem to fit with the rest, which dont have people on them or anything, just scenery…
I think it definitley stands out. It would catch my eye but I wouldn’t recognize it as being in the series. Maybe less cleavage would be much better. I do love the colors and it seems as if the woman is going to have some adventure!
Is she drawing out the sword to use it? That seems like a strange and awkward way to grip it.
Rosina, It reminds me so of a Philippa Gregory book, due to the lack of her pretty face, but I love Gregory books and have read every one of the series and even some of her more obscure novels. I think your girl looks spirited and adventurous, the texture of the fabric looks rich and the colors are glorious. I would pick up this novel even if I hadn’t read the first four, it would catch me from across a bookstore, and if it showed up on my Amazon page I would have to buy it. I think she needs flying hair though, it looks windy there. I find the tidbits you share with us so interesting, thank you for letting me glimpse into the making of your novels. Carolyn
Oh, and a previous poster said she started eating the food in the Wilderness novels, I too started eating cornbread. I couldn’t get enough of the stuff, it just sounded to good, (when it was fresh, I noticed a lot of stale corncakes were had by all). Carolyn
The cover is in indeed eye catching. Is that Hannah? or Jennet? Way to tease us. ;D Also, is her face going to be shown on the actual cover?
On the line of cornbread… I used to work at a living history museum that has historic recipes that date to 1836 or earlier. Try http://www.connerprairie.org and then to the foodways area. Also emailing them for recipes works. Each time I’ve read the books I break out the old recipes. It just puts me in the mood to cook!
How cool is that, Soup? Thanks for the link! My husband used to work at Old Fort William (now called Fort William Historic Park for some unfortuante reason) in Thunder Bay, Ontario, and used to come home with fresh farm eggs and heavenly baked bread. Ain’t history grand? I tell you, I was born in the wrong century.
I think that Hannah is rocking some good cleavage there – and I am assuming it is Hannah, I picture Jennet wearing something a bit longer in skirt.
The woman pictured also looks very athletic, you know she means business. It is a great picture.
I’d be excited to see the other book cover revisions, to get at least a small idea of what is envisioned in terms of what the characters look like. It never replaces the “vivid” mental photos I have of Elizabeth et al, but it is fun! Bring it on!
Love the new cover.
Love the colors.
Love that the face is not reviealed.
If a cover generates questions then one is more inclined to open the book to find answers.
But to me the cover screams “romance” more than “historical” because the woman does not appear to me to be drawing out the sword in an effective manner.
If I were drawing out a sword my hand would be grasping the hilt so that the thumb is closest to the blade. And my elbow would be further out from my side.
As currently drawn the woman would have to regrip (let go, move hand, and grip again) to use the sword. This puts her at risk of dropping the sword or being more easily disarmed if attack is imminent.
I think the cover is boooootiful. But bear in mind that a) I’ve never been a fan of landscape-y type covers, and all your previous covers for the Wilderness series were, well, landscape-y, and b) I adore covers featuring jewel tones and elaborate period costumes. I also like that her face isn’t revealed. I like filling in those sorts of details for myself; cover models rarely look like the characters.
Side note: Isn’t it funny how romance novels have such stigma attached to them? The cover doesn’t look very bodice ripper-ish (and lord knows I have looked at more than my fair share of bodice ripper covers, oh my poor eyes), but many people see “historical costume + decolletage” and immediately equate it with Rosemary freakin’ Rogers or something. Heh.
what I say here will probably get buried amongst all the other comments since this isn’t a recent topic. But I was looking through my library catalogue in a country town in Australia (actually looking to see if Jenny Crusie’s upcoming book had been pre ordered), and I came across a list of authors that the library considers bestselling and that they have a standard order to get their latest books. Sara Donati was in that list. so I checked and QOS has already been pre ordered and the date is 13th Sept. So it seems like it might be published here a little earlier than in the US. Just for your information, the library has ordered 5 copies and there are already 11 holds on them.
Jacqui — that is great news, thanks so much for sharing it.
I don’t know why I have such loyal readers down under, but I appreciate every single one of you.
s/r
OK. I think I got it wrong. It think that date was when the order was placed. Oh well, should hopefully be in October when it comes out in the US.
Can’t you write any faster???? My husband gave me the first Wilderness book for Christmas, and I finished the fourth around Valentine’s Day…. I’m not sure what I’m going to do in the meantime, but October is waaaaay too far away! OK, the cover: I’m a former dancer, so the powerful movement inherent in the QOS cover thrilled me. Immediately. I agree with the comments about cleavege, particularly if it’s Hannah… she would never dress thus. About the awkward sword? She might be sheathing it instead of drawing it. Ambiguous kudos. So many mysteries in one picture…………
How many days ’till October?
Now wait. Hannah comes from a culture where women often work bare breasted in the fields. Cleavage is not going to be a big deal to her.
Bobbi — welcome, and I’m so glad you’ve enjoyed the books thus far.
I just don’t picture Hannah with her hair so tied back there are no trailing tresses shown at all, however, I could see Jennett wearing a hair covering to blend with her captors. BUT I’ll have to wait to see if my guess is right.
Hannah: plaited (braided) hair
AHA! I see the nape of her neck…
The more I look at the picture, the more I love the defiant, hip-shot stance she’s got going on. Could it be Lily? (I haven’t finished Fire Along the Sky, so if there’s some reason I don’t know of yet that it couldn’t be Lily, apologies.) In my bordering-on-obsessive studying of the pic, I think her hair and skin are too dark to be Jennet’s no? The bit of hair on the nape of her neck seems like it wouldn’t be blond, like Jennet’s. I also love the piece of leather wrapped around her wrist. Faaaaabulous!
LOVE IT! The colors are great, fabric is great. It leaves me wondering who this is, I think it must be Hannah or Lilly! Can’t wait to read the book!
Oooooh boy – I am soooo looking forward to QoS. I discovered the ITW series by chance a couple of years ago and made short work of the novels already in print, re-read them (twice) while waiting impatiently for Fire Along the Sky, read that twice, passed all the books on to someone else to read… and now am eagerly anticipating your QoS, Rosina (while working – not super successfully – on my patience levels). I’m another of the Down-under brigade,from NZ, and I thought you’d be interested to know that your ITW series has made it onto the top 100 books list here. Thank you for writing such wonderful, captivating, absorbing and colourful novels. I’ve so enjoyed being transported into the Wilderness.
Regards,
N
Btw – it was reading the posts above in relation to that fabulous cover that prompted me to make my first post but I got so carried away, I forgot to mention just how lovely I think the cover art is :)
I love this cover, it gives us an idea on how adventurous QOS will be! :)It looks like she is showing off her sword or she was just putting the sword away! I like! I hope this cover sticks. Very creative I think! Tiff