So curious to hear what you all "see" on the cover of this novel.

The "roots" on the cover, at a distance, appear to be an image of a woman walking...away or to the truth?

I was wondering if the roots symbolized how strong Polly, and then Grandada were connected to the earth and its" healing". ( herbs, etc.) And then the tree is all of the lives both had healed or brought into the world.

I see the cover more as the the picture of the girl growing from the darknes of slavery into the light of freedom much as the plant grows from the dark soil into the light of the sun.

I took the plant to be a symbol of Granada's growth as a person but also looked at the roots as how she became rooted to her history. The other interesting thing about the cover is that the girl is pictured between the plantation house and the slave cabins almost as the connection between the two.

Yes, a very interesting cover.
I saw it as Granada being pensive as she connects the roots/healing/memory to the plantation house.
The green at the bottom representing the earth - which Polly told her you had to taste and listen to what they were saying.
The blue represents the sky and the universe which is the understanding of freedom as an enslaved person you can put your meaning to it, not what the master said.

The cover truly is intriguing, and certainly a lot more meaningful after you finish the book. The old saying that a picture is worth a thousand words definitely applies to this cover.

Thanks for such great responses; I love what all of your eyes see - my vision has improved as well. I had
a thought, and half of it is not very pretty - as much as the tree is symbolic - growth, roots to your past - earth and new beginnings - the tree is the instrument of death - lynching- a bittersweet comparison and the ideas just came to me, so I am throwing it out there.

I love the significance showing the knowledge of herb healing by showing them in her head/brain. Not sure of the symbolism for the sky and earth separating her but it arouses my curiosity.

Often a cover tells very little about the story within, not so here. Already mentioned are: healing plants, roots symbolizing life, earth sending healing herbs, between the fields & plantation house.. A sadness in the face as it looks towards the plantation, a place she never leaves. A night sky remembering all that have come before. The healing of Granada and how to heal others comes from the quiet mind.

I don't see the tree as a symbol of death - I see it as a symbol of growth and strength. To me Granada looks black, but she is a compilation of white and black expeiences. Her brain holds the blending of both worlds. It would be interesting to hear from the artist!

I was asked to offer my comments about the cover. The artist is African American and submitted almost "as is" after she read the book. I was stunned with the colors and the imagery. It was a visceral, not a rational, reaction, which is what the best art elicits. I too have studied it and tried to logically analyze it, but when you break it down piece by piece, you learn the whole is bigger than the sum of the parts. Nor is it stagnant. It's like a picture in motion. There is something spiritually moving to have the black girl's heroic profile, half on earth, half in the heaven, rooted yet reaching upward, incorporating Polly's teaching that all things contain perfection, it's just a matter of remembering.

Jon Odell

It is interesting to read everyone's take on the cover art. Many different ideas- which is how it should be.

I think that is what real art does- it allows a personal connection and interpretation. Sometimes it's an emotional feeling, a memory that the art elicits, a yearning for a time or place, a heart's connection to a person.

This is a beautiful piece of art- to me, it related strength, growth and seeking. She was remembering all the seeds of learning that Polly had sowed.