Belatedly Seeking Sarah
book cover design
The book
Belatedly Seeking Sarah by Tim Flower
She’s sixty, single and successful. But who is she?
Sarah thought she knew who she was and where she belonged. But when Covid-19 strikes, her mother dies, and she inherits the family home on the Isle of Wight, this self-assurance is disrupted by some astonishing and bewildering finds in her late-mother’s attic. Struggling to solve the mysteries they present, while administering the estate and defending her career, she enlists some local help. Together they uncover family secrets and skeletons, tragedies and truths, spanning two continents and more than a century, that transform her sense of self and third age of her life.
The novel blends themes of ancestry, ethnicity, humanity, identity and self-discovery with late-blooming romance and last century events into a poignant, uplifting and gently humorous mystery.
Designing the cover
The novel has a strong focus on a single main protagonist exploring her “family tree”. Tim (the author) wanted a cover that incorporated both the heroine’s face and also a tree motif. He suggested “a tree that forms a face, with the autumn leaves representing her red hair”. He was especially fond of the type of tree in the photo on the right.
Based on the reference photo I took, I mocked-up a few versions of the “tree face” concept. Tim liked the design in profile the best, but wanted more emphasis on the tree’s roots and the character’s distinctive nose shape.
We had an in-person meeting to refine the concept. Tim had found some inspiration images that he liked and - inspired by those - wanted to the style to be simpler and the colours more muted. We created a rough thumbnail in the meeting.
I chose a drawing I had previously made of model Naseem to serve as the face inspiration. Naseem has a distinctive profile which seemed perfect for the character.
We went through a few iterations of the cover, adjusting face shape, expression and the colour palette.
The final design uses only five colours. It depicts a tree forming the heroine’s face, over a setting sun. The heroine’s name - Sarah - is handwritten.