World of Royalty Blog

This month brought a big crop of new royalty book covers featuring “headless” women. To be specific, by my count: two covers with headless women, two covers with eyeless women, and three covers featuring the backs of women’s heads. (Who on earth finds Queen Elizabeth l’s back more interesting than her face?)

So I think this cover is refreshing:

 

Anastasia’s Secret by Susanne Dunlap is a young adult novel about Grand Duchess Anastasia, one of the daughters of Russia’s last tsar.

As you can see, this cover allows Anastasia to show her face. Of course, that’s not the real Anastasia, but it’s nice that someone took the trouble to make the model look like her. The white dress, pearls, and long hair are all reminiscent of photos of Anastasia and her sisters.

For instance, here’s Anastasia (on the left) and her sister Maria:

 

You can see more pictures of the grand duchesses at Wikimedia Commons. Because they died so young, many of the photos have a haunting quality, and I think the cover of “Anastasia’s Secret” captures a little of that feeling. Well done.

When you look at this month’s new books about royalty, which cover jumps out at you and says “buy me”? For me, it’s this one:

 
The Tudors: The Complete Story of England’s Most Notorious Dynasty by G. J. Meyer tells the story of “the sinners and saints, the tragedies and triumphs, the high dreams and dark crimes” of the royal Tudor family.

There isn’t anything particularly innovative about this cover, but I think it’s visually striking, and it makes me want to buy the book even though (heaven knows) I already have plenty of books about the Tudors.

Looking at it more closely, I like the fact that Elizabeth I is shown in front of her father, suggesting that she was more important — I’ll bet that would not have pleased the obsessively son-seeking Henry VIII.

It’s also nice that we can SEE both monarchs’ faces. The only thing missing is one of Henry’s ears. Is it possible that the “headless person” cover fad is finally fading?

Do you like this book cover? Have any other new royal books covers caught your attention this month?

Most of this month’s new books about royalty have run-of-the-mill covers, but there are a few standouts.  The cover of Notorious Royal Marriages by Leslie Carroll is colorful and lively. And — although I am tired of book covers featuring headless women — the cover of Kate Emerson’s novel Between Two Queens is eye-catchingly pretty.

So I’m probably wrong to pick THIS as the best royalty book cover of January 2010, but I can’t help it. It’s just so wonderfully silly:

 

In case you haven’t guessed, Queen Victoria: Demon Hunter by A. E. Moorat is a work of fiction. An excerpt from the publisher’s description:

London, 1838. Queen Victoria is crowned; she receives the orb, the scepter, and an arsenal of bloodstained weaponry… But rather than dreams of demon hunting, Queen Victoria’s thoughts are occupied by Prince Albert. Can she dedicate her life to saving her country when her heart belongs elsewhere? With lashings of glistening entrails, decapitations, zombies, and foul demons, this masterly new portrait will give a fresh understanding of a remarkable woman, a legendary monarch, and quite possibly the best demon hunter the world has ever seen.

Oh, Queen Victoria. To think I ever found you boring.

What do you think of this book’s cover — and its concept?

Again this month there aren’t many new books about royalty, but I think most of the new books’ covers are pretty good. My favorite is this one:

 

The Meiji Restoration by Alistair Swale tells how real imperial rule was restored in Japan in 1867 under Emperor Meiji. I think this cover is colorful and unusual, and gives you a bit of a feeling for the times. I can’t help noticing the man with the flamboyant mustache and his debonair friend. The emperor seems disgruntled with them both. A cover that makes you start imagining storylines is a good cover, I think.

Although this month’s selection of new books about royalty is rather limited, I think the covers are better than usual. But they’re just OK, not spectacular. There’s only one that, for me, really stands out:

 
The Royal Pardon by Helen Lacey examines the role of royal mercy at moments of political upheaval in 14th century England. The cover illustration is a bit ghoulish, but it very clearly illustrates what the book is about. It’s vivid, it’s memorable, and it was a very good choice for this book, I think.

What’s your opinion?

There are lots of new books about royalty out this month, and lots of nice covers, but this is easily my favorite:

The Lady Queen by Nancy Goldstone is a biography of Queen Joanna I of Naples, the only female monarch of her time (the 14th century) to rule in her own name. I really like this cover — it’s royal, historical, elegant, and interesting. It makes me want to read the book.

What do you think of it?

There are plenty of new books about royalty this month, so I’m a bit surprised that my favorite book cover is this one:

Elizabeth I: Fortune’s Bastard by Richard Rex is a short biography that highlights the queen’s vivid and contrary personality. There’s nothing special about this cover at first glance, but I like it because it shows Elizabeth’s face (not just her neck or the back of her head), and you can plainly see her determined personality. You can also see her signature (or what looks like it), and I like the color scheme. It’s pretty and royal.

So this is my pick for September. What do you think of it?

Very few new books about royalty were published this month, so I didn’t have many covers to choose from, but I really do like this one:

The Kingmaker’s Sisters by David Baldwin is about six sisters who married noblemen fighting on opposite sides of 15th century England’s Wars of the Roses. The cover is simple but pretty — I like the way the roses are worked into the design.

What’s your opinion? Do you like this book cover?

From Tanzanite’s Book Covers: Daphne takes a look at the different ways Katherine Parr (sixth wife of Henry VIII) has been portrayed over the years.

My favorite royalty-related book cover of the month:

The Devil’s Queen by Jeanne Kalogridis is a historical novel about Catherine de Medici, a 16th century French queen who (supposedly) used sorcery to maintain her power.

I’ve said before that I don’t like the fad for faceless women on book covers, but at least this cover lets us see the back of Catherine’s head — that’s a little bit of progress. In my opinion, it’s a very appealing cover, beautiful but also slightly sinister, in keeping with the subject matter. Nice job, St. Martin’s Press.

Do you like this cover? Hate it? Tell me what you think!