Seated at a restaurant in , I abruptly stop scrolling Instagram when I read that Sally Rooney has a new book coming out in September. Published by Faber & Faber, is described as a story about “grief, love and family”, exploring the relationship between brothers Peter and Ivan, who have little in common, as they grapple with the of their father. As a Sally Rooney fan, I am surprised at not having come across the book announcement earlier.
I find myself just as surprised at how different ’s summary sounds from the author’s previous books. Since the release of in 2018, Rooney has—admittedly reductively—gained a reputation for depicting as unassumingly pretty and detached in romantic relationships. strays from this archetype, choosing instead to display characters and relationships Rooney’s audience may not expect: older men struggling with Reading up on the author’s departure from her usual themes, I realise that the cover of reflects this metamorphosis.
While the book covers for her previous works are playful, bright and minimalist, there is a moodiness to the cover of , created by British-Indian designer Kishan Rajani. “A nugget of advice I’ve carried with me in my career is that the cover designer’s job is not to articulate the entire narrative of a story, but to capture the essence of the book,” Rajani shares. “It’s about tone of voice and how it makes you .
” Using a deep Yves Klein blue—representing the infinite and immaterial—the book cove.