How does all of this fit together? Robin Romm, for Slate, sees that the latest J. Crew catalog looks a lot like her book cover.
From the piece...
In 2009, before my memoir The Mercy Papers came out, my publishing house showed me ten very questionable book covers. Even my editor thought them cringeworthy, and sent them to me with weary trepidation. One featured Adirondack chairs in soft colors, overlooking the endless sea. Another, a naked woman's back, her slightly damp curls suggesting an earlier lovemaking session. My memoir, a furious and raw account of my mother's death, was far from placid or erotic. Yes, one scene takes place looking out at an ocean. And the naked woman seemed to be standing next to some hospital sheets...which were sort of deathy. But I feared these covers would sentence my book to a place on the remainders table.
I had the good fortune of pitching a fit the week that the wonderful designer Rex Bonomelli joined Scribner. He read the book, and an unexpected image jumped out at him: the popsicle.
The popsicle was one of the last foods my mother could eat. By the end of her life, and by the end of the book, she couldn't hold them. Her hands shook, so they would fall to the floor and break. The three red popsicles, going from whole to broken against a dreamy blue backdrop, signify the breaking down of childhood as well as decline from illness and, ultimately, death.
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