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I'm seriously tempted to replace all of my 1970s mass-market paperbacks with these versions. All are trade paperbacks. Philippa Gregory has written new forewords to most (if not all) of them, introducing the novels' historical background and analyzing their impact on the historical fiction and romance genres. Gregory, unlike most authors asked to introduce novels, is quite honest about what she perceives as their flaws.
What do you think of these?
I like the ones for Katherine and The Winthrop Woman. Can't say that I like the one for Devil Water--it strikes me as vaguely creepy for reasons I can't put my finger on. (But maybe since the title's Devil Water, I'm supposed to find it vaguely creepy?) The other two don't affect me much either way.
ReplyDeleteI like the new Norah Lofts covers and the new UK Jean Plaidy covers.
The one for Devil Water looks a lot better on the actual book. On the JPG, the girl looks sly and almost elvish. I'm not sure why that is.
ReplyDeleteThe one for Winthrop Woman is my favorite.
Philippa Gregory's forewords would be interesting, and the trade paperback size is nice. The covers themselves I can pretty well take or leave. I quite like the one for Katherine.
ReplyDeleteI do like those covers! Years ago when I read Katherine, The Winthrop Woman, and Green Darkness, it was hardcovers with no dust jackets - probably book club editions. So what do your old pb covers look like?
ReplyDeleteInterestingly, I don't like The Winthrop Woman or Katherine much...one looks too prim and the other too overblown for my idea of Katherine. I like the rest. {shrug}
ReplyDeleteI'll try to scan in a few of the old pb covers for a later post, because I can't find most of them online. They're quite interesting to compare, especially the older one I have for Katherine - as I recall, she's a buxom redhead with her hair tumbling all over.
ReplyDeleteThe pb I have for Devil Water looks like this.
The DEVIL WATER cover reminds me quite a bit of the cover for A FACTORY OF CUNNING by Philippa Stockley (an interesting novel, by the way).
ReplyDeleteI like the WINTHROP WOMAN cover, the rest are okay, I guess. I saw the one for DRAGONWYCK on Amazon and I did like that one. I read some of these many years ago and they didn't even have covers--just library bound, so I like seeing the art work.
I do like these covers, and I don't blame you for wanting to buy them for it! She was a gifted writer, and it is nice she seems still so popular, I loved the post you had up a bit ago about the 'reuseable' covers, quite funny, actually! Nice blog, always worth reading!
ReplyDeleteI actually like the cover for "Devil Water;" I never read that one. I also really like the covers for "Katherine" and "Avalon."
ReplyDeleteThanks for your comments, Lorie!
ReplyDeleteMike, I'd forgotten that Dragonwyck was also historical rather than contemporary, but it is. I know what you mean about the cover of Devil Water looking like the one for Factory of Cunning.
I like the "Devil Water" cover because it's creepy. I think the "Katherine" cover is part of the reusable cover art variety. I could swear, I've seen that painting somewhere else. I also like "Winthrop Woman."
ReplyDeleteI own four of the original Fawcett Crest bustin-out covers, and an hc of the original "Green Darkness" with its swirly green mod cover. I wonder if they're collectors' editions now?
BTW: A million thanks to Susan H. who revitalized my boring work day with her link to re-worked romance covers. I stumbled on it by accident via a blog that linked to her site, and started laughing so hard I had to close my office door.
Thanks! They're from the World of Longmire and still make me laugh aloud.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.worldoflongmire.com/features/romance_novels/