During high school, Maurice Carlos Ruffin volunteered at his local library shelving books.1 While he worked, he cultivated an appreciation for book covers, eventually viewing great designs as art that’s worthy of display. Needless to say, he takes his own covers very seriously.
For the cover of The American Daughters, his newest release, Maurice Carlos Ruffin had a clear idea of the art direction he wanted to go in. It’s not often that authors have so much initial creative input on their cover designs, and I feel lucky that he shared all the details in an interview with Seanathan Polidore on YouTube.
Describing the origins of woman’s image on the cover, Maurice Carlos Ruffin said:
“I actually found that image myself. That’s a real painting of a woman from, I think,1890 Maine.”
Once I heard the word Maine (where I grew up) and art (so cool!) in this interview, I knew I needed see the original painting for myself. Luckily, some digging on the internet turned up the details. The painting is titled “Sherry Sir,” and Thomas Waterman Wood painted in in 1890. Currently, it’s in the Detroit Institute of Arts’s collection.
Annotating The Cover
Other details on The American Daughters cover are intentional and plot derived. Let’s take a closer look with this mini annotating guide:
Warning there are spoilers on these pages! So, just save this info. if you haven’t read the book yet. Don’t try to highlight ahead of time.
The Tray of Sherry
- Chapter 23 p 264
The Hummingbirds
- Chapter 14 p 135, 148, 140
The “For Our Mothers” Pennant Flag
- Dedication
- Chapter 1 p 8
- Chapter 18 p 199, p 205
- from Sitting with the Griots ft. Maurice Carlos Ruffin on YouTube. Time Stamp: 31:45
https://www.youtube.com/live/31A_vDuPS5o?si=T99Pkh21dKjxmFMG ↩︎
Annotate With Sara 