Beginning to End – Mercy House: Cover Designer, Elsie Lyons
Mercy House, Alena Dillon’s debut novel, centers on Sister Evelyn, a fierce, wise-cracking, and ultimately kind-hearted nun who helps run a small Brooklyn shelter for women fleeing from domestic violence. When Bishop Hawkins threatens to close the home, Evelyn fights to save Mercy House and protect its residents, a struggle which forces her to face abuse in her own past.
William Morrow released Mercy House on February 11. For this edition of Beginning to End, Spine follows Mercy House from author all the way through to publicity and marketing, stopping along the way to talk to Dillon’s agent and editor, as well as the book’s designer. Next up: Cover designer Elsie Lyons.
The cover of Mercy House features an angel door knocker hung on a red door, with a woman’s hand reaching for it. In the book, the angel is Mercy House’s identifying feature, signaling to victims of domestic violence that they’ve arrived at safety. Quite early in her process, designer Elsie Lyons came across a similar image, of a red door with woman’s reaching for a knocker. “At the time, I thought it might be too straightforward,” she told Spine. And so she passed.
What she needed, what all book cover designers aim for, is a cover that gets at the heart of the book in a way that speaks to the title’s target audience. “I wanted to convey an inviting tone that would appeal to readers of women’s fiction,” she explained. But also, “It was important to the author [Alena Dillon] that the cover evoke feelings of safety and refuge.”
Lyons turned first to setting for inspiration. “Since the story takes place in Bed-Stuy, Brooklyn, my initial research focused on shots of brownstones along tree-lined streets.” Felt too busy, and also the editorial team wanted a woman on the cover. She tried placing a woman into the streetscapes but again, it didn’t quite work. “The comps looked too contrived,” she said.
Stumped, Lyons flipped through her research and rediscovered the red door, the knocker, the woman’s hand. “I realized it could be the perfect solution. The red was rich and eye-catching, and showing just enough of a woman created interest into the narrative,” she said. A request from Dillon brought the piece to its final iteration. “The author requested that an angel door knocker be on the cover, so I worked with a re-toucher to pull it all together.”
Dillon is pleased with her book’s final form. “The angel door knocker was a symbol to identify Mercy House as a safe haven. It was almost a beacon for survivors to find shelter,” she said. “Maybe now it'll serve as a similar calling to readers.”
Spine Authors Editor Susanna Baird grew up inhaling paperbacks in Central Massachusetts, and now lives and works in Salem. Her writing has appeared in a variety of publications, including Boston Magazine, BANG!, Failbetter, and Publishers Weekly. She's the founder of the Salem Longform Writers' Group, and serves on the Salem Literary Festival committee. When not wrangling words, she spends time with her family, mostly trying to pry the cat's head out of the dog's mouth, and helps lead The Clothing Connection, a small Salem-based nonprofit dedicated to getting clothes to kids who need them. Online, you can find her at susannabaird.com and on Twitter @SusannaBaird.