The first-ever longlist for the Stella Prize has been announced! In honour of the occasion, my Friday ‘Uncovered’ book has been chosen from the longlisted titles.
In case you didn’t know, the Stella Prize is a shiny new literary award celebrating Australian women’s writing. It will be awarded for the very first time on April 16. Exciting times, people. Exciting times.
Not having read any of the books on the longlist (yet), this is a great test for ‘Uncovered’. If I were confronted with the entire longlist on a shelf, judging the book purely by its cover design and nothing else (not even the blurb), which one would I pick up first?
Here are the choices:
Both these covers really spoke to me. The Burial is contemplative, simplistic and visually beautiful. It has a real sense of space and peace about it. It makes me think of reading it on a cold winter’s evening, tucked up cosily inside by a crackling fire, nursing a cup of hot tea.
The People Smuggler I can imagine being engrossed in, while around me a busy coffee shop thrums with activity and bustle. The distressed design gives me the immediate impression that this will be a much loved and well-thumbed addition to my library. At the same time, it gives the feeling that the pages themselves are throbbing with life, intrigue and danger. It has a raw, true feel to it. (Which you would expect, given the title and the fact that it’s non-fiction…) This book has been through a lot, its cover says. Read it, and you’ll go through a lot too.
The image of the little boy running away from the reader draws me in; makes me want to know more. 
It’s also vaguely reminiscent of this cover design for Khaled Hosseini’s brilliant and moving novel The Kite Runner. Which says to my subconscious: You liked that book, so you’ll like this one.
Very tough to decide between them but in the end, my very first impression was that I’d pluck The People Smuggler off the shelf first, so I’m going to go with that.
What about you? Based on the cover alone, which one would you pick up first?
The Stella shortlist will be announced on March 20.
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I’m glad you have chosen The People Smuggler – you won’t be disappointed. It is the only book on the Stella longlist that I have read. The images will stay with you forever. The writing is extraordinarily adept. My two favourite covers – Floundering by Romy Ash and Sufficient Grace by Amy Espeseth – odd they are both black and white?! Janet
Hi Janet, thanks for the comment, I still haven’t managed to read it yet but glad to hear it’s worth adding to the TBR list!
We should have a mini-book club when you’ve finished reading The People Smuggler! I read it at the end of last year, and thought it was one of the most interesting, thought-provoking books I have read in a long time. I also met the author…will have to tell you all about it!
Sounds great! Still haven’t got to it yet but will let you know when I do!