Another problematic Bloomsbury cover.

When I wrote about Magic Under Glass, I didn't mention the discrepancy between the inside of the book and the outside of the book.  In the book, Nimira is described as having "glossy black" hair, and she knows that the people of Lorinar see her as "dark and foreign" -- yet the cover art Bloomsbury came up with looked like this:

 

I don't have an excuse for not mentioning it -- I totally should have.  But I was busy being vaguely disappointed in the book.  And I told myself that it COULDN'T be happening again -- I mean, we'd JUST SEEN the end of the Liar situation.  I even half-convinced myself that this wasn't the final cover art, because I'd seen another version online (which I just realized is the UK cover).  Not that I can really tell if it's any better anyway:

So, here I am, bringing it up now that the book is officially out and I have no more semi-reasonable explanations for Keeping My Hope Alive.  What gives, Bloomsbury?  Why the white girl? 

More at Reading In Color, Bookish Blather, GAL Novelty, and Bookshop.  Oh, and the Book Smugglers (very positive) review of the book mentioned the issue way back in mid-December.

Comments

[tanita]

Dude, she is TOO foreign. I mean, look at those things around her neck. They're PEARLS. They come from UNDER WATER. IN THE DARK. Foreign climes, right there.

[Leila]

The book itself makes it sound as if Lorimar is another version of England, and her home country is more like India, and so the natives of Lorimar have that Look Down Their Noses At The Exotic Brown People mentality.

Not that you'd pick that up from the cover art.

[hope]

I don't know what you are complaining about. She's in her underwear, isn't she? What more could you ask for in a cover?

[Kristi]

Ugh, not again. I just ordered this for my library based on reviews, and I had no idea that the main character was meant to be a POC. What's most disappointing is that this one's already published, so other than hoping for a better cover for the paperback edition, I'm not sure what can be done.