US and UK covers.

Ghanaian-British author Maame Blue will release her second novel The Rest of You this October. Published by Amistad (US) and Verve Books (UK), the book boasts two delightful covers speaking to the novel’s engagement with themes of childhood.

Blue’s novel is about a woman’s journey to uncover a foundational family secret from the childhood she does not remember. The design of the covers echoes the novel’s themes as the US cover features a young Black child nestled inside a green nest (or a hollow face depending on how you see it) while the UK cover is more vague in its approach by depicting a painted brick exterior reminiscent of a child’s artwork.

The US artwork was created by Dapo Adeola, an award winning illustrator and author, and the UK cover was put together by designer Elsa Mathern. Blue remarked to us in a conversation that she can’t decide which one is her favorite:

I love these two covers so much! The US cover created by my very good friend Dapo Adeola was born from many conversations we’d had about the book, and his brilliant imagination. It speaks to the heart and depth of The Rest of You. And the UK cover melts my Londoner heart because it feels like home – again another key aspect I grappled with in the book. I can’t pick between the two; it’d be like picking between my (imaginary) children.

Spanning three decades, the novel is told through the viewpoints of Whitney, sisters Gloria and Aretha, and house help Maame Serwaa. Ghanaian Londoner Whitney Appiah is born with a special gift; as a massage therapist, she can sense her clients’ trauma and heal them. But Whitney herself is suffering too as tragic events from her youth have left a mark on her. A dangerous encounter with the man she’s dating triggers fragmented recollections, and she decides to embarks on a journey to reclaim her early memories growing up in Kumasi, Ghana in the 1990s.

The Rest of You explores generational healing and is inspired by the Twi proverb of Sankofa: looking back in order to move forward. Although the themes are serious, the book carries a tone of hope and optimism and we can’t wait to read it.

Maame Blue is a Ghanaian-Londoner, part-time Melbourne resident, and award-winning author of her debut novel Bad Love. In a previous life she was a psychotherapist and project manager, but in this one she writes short stories and reviews, and teaches creative writing for a number of literature organisations.

Preorder The Rest of You here.