You might remember that, in 2019, my wining Liberty fabric was used for the cover of a special edition of Anna Burns’ 2018 Man Booker Prize winner, Milkman.
I’d never designed a book cover from scratch though. But earlier this year, I was persuaded by new author Lucy Elena, over a rather nice lunch, to design the cover for her first novel The Starling Dance, which is published today on Amazon as a paperback and Kindle ebook.
Lucy is a multilingual journalist who has worked across Europe and Latin America. The Starling Dance is her debut novel. It was dreamt up initially as a film while she was working in Rome. She became interested in the street artists she passed every day on her way to work, eventually getting to know some of them.
The artsy film of her imagination never materialised though – work and life got in the way – but, eight years later and four years in the writing, The Starling Dance was born in novel form – and I did the cover.
The green eye, requested by Lucy, was added by designer, Linda Cole, who also painstakingly added the correct number of starlings to every chapter heading.
So what’s it about? It’s a romance with an edge, and people who have read the draft, as the Amazon AI summariser might say, find it quirky, funny, thought provoking and magical, with beautiful descriptions of Rome – a perfect summer read. But why not order a copy and judge for yourself! Details of how to, below.
I’ll let Lucy tell you a bit more about it. Here is her book description from the Amazon website. I just do the art!
The Starling Dance: a riotous, heart-warming summer romance set in Rome
In a sweltering Roman summer, Laure is trying to start a new life. But can she manage in a city where walls have ears, trees have eyes and even the birds are acting strangely?
It’s been exactly one year since the shit hit the fan and Laure’s anxiety exploded into a full-blown burn out. In search of a new start she’s moved to Rome – pasta, Aperol and sunshine should make everything better, right?
But with her 30s around the corner, la bella vita isn’t going to plan.
- Her boyfriend, the dreamy Davide, has disappeared (Either Laure’s been ghosted or he’s accidentally fallen off a cliff – hopefully)
- She wants to murder her neighbours: their arguments are keeping her up all night.
In her local café, Laure meets a handsome stranger and the sparks fly, that is until she finds herself caught in a big lie.
‘Hmmm, it’s not ideal,’ says her best friend Eva, as she puffs on a spliff in the bathtub.
Just as things are heating up, a talking tree enters the fray (as if this Roman summer wasn’t weird enough, just ask the birds).
That tree is Viviano, a dynamic and adventurous street performer who poses around the Eternal City dressed as a tree, well, sometimes a cat too and sometimes a ripe tomato. He could be thriving in life but something is holding him back. One thing is certain though: he wants to meet Laure.
Will Laure find her path? Will she accidentally put pineapple on a pizza? And is there a real love story to be found in the surreal swirls of the Italian capital?
The Starling Dance is a love story full of quirk, humour and heart-warming characters, each trying to overcome their personal obstacles and demons to give themselves a chance at life and love.
How to buy a copy
The Starling Dance is available to purchase on Amazon in the UK via this link.
Paperback – £8.70
Kindle – £2.49
At the moment, it isn’t searchable on any Amazon marketplace – that takes a few days apparently – but if you’re ordering it from abroad, you can find it by going to the ‘books’ section of Amazon and searching there.
If you like the book, please share and write a review.