Click on the thumbnails to view the full international covers for S.E.C.R.E.T., and read L. Marie Adeline’s thoughts on each.
Brazilian |
I loved the brushed gold on this charm, which is closest to the sheen I saw in my imagination. I saw an early draft of this cover; the first peephole picture showed a woman in a bed. But I preferred the sexiness of this shot. In it, she has the agency. She’s removing her own bra. |
Dutch |
The background is different here—no fleur-de-lys, but I found the pattern stunningly beautiful. They also put the author’s name first, which is nice. Not necessary, but nice. |
French
French back cover |
I screamed when I opened this at my desk at the CBC where I was working at the time—it’s so shockingly sexy. I printed it up and left it on several colleagues’ desks, to be “cheeky.” One slid a copy back under my office door with “farts” scribbled below the S.E.C.R.E.T. title. I’ve kept it as an affectionate souvenir. |
Norwegian |
It’s exactly the same as the Canadian and North American, except in Norwegian. But I was surprised that they kept the fleur-de-lys pattern, for no other reason than the Dutch changed it. Not conflating the Dutch with the Norwegians, but you do wonder. |
Portuguese |
No spoilers here, but there’s a new character in Book Two named Dauphine, who looks exactly like this girl in my mind. In Canada we had a woman on early version of the cover, which was so lovely, but when we saw the starker cover with the fleur-de-lys and charm bracelet, we all swooned. This, however, is lovely. |
Russian |
It’s interesting, but when I asked why they veered from the charm bracelet, they cited a market survey among booksellers who found the bracelet a bit wanting. At the same time, the cover with the mask was seen as “gorgeous,” “luxurious” and “very sensual.” So what do I know about the Russian book market? As a rule, I rarely push back hard on cover designs. The marketing departments in each country know their market. |
Swedish |
This cover quite literally took my breath away. I hate to call favourites—everyone put so much work into each cover. And though it’s obvious why this wouldn’t work in the North American market, this cover is one of my favourites so far. I love the colours, the textures and the font. Though the cutouts of the sun, birds and animals don’t directly reference anything in the book, the design reminds me of the elaborate wrought iron gates in the Garden District of New Orleans. It’s simply beautiful. |
British |
Love the detail, love the gold finish on the charm and the background colour—a highly saturated purple. It’s also matte, which I love in a book cover. It feels like skin, to be quite honest. It’s a very sensual version of this book. I love it. |
North American |
As I mentioned, our early version was a lovely rendition of a woman writhing on a bed, her hair in her face. It was beautiful; we all agreed. But when this option appeared on the screen, a hush fell over the room. We just knew that this would find itself in more hands. It has the look of a found treasure on it, which S.E.C.R.E.T. is, in a way. You can’t not pick it up and turn it around in your hands. It was the right decision. I adore it. It’s iconographic to me. |
Israeli
Israeli interior |
Even though it’s different than the others, with no fleur-de-lys, or charm bracelet, I still feel the Israeli cover fits nicely in the family of covers. Maybe it’s the spare pink and black design. But I love its subtlety; the peephole merely implies there are secrets inside, and that’s enough. |
Bulgaria |
Purchase the book |
Czech |
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Denmark |
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Finland |
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German |
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Greek |
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Hungary |
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Iceland |
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Italy |
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Romania |
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Slovak |
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Spain |
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Taiwan |
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Turkey |
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Croatian |
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Serbian |
Purchase the book |