Hello my dears, happy Spring Equinox -
So, look what what came in the post today. A glimmer of hope. A wolf howling in the dark. In amongst all the bad news and all the emails cancelling work and gigs I have received the artwork of my debut novel with permission to share it and say like a real author: Hey here's my beautiful book, this is the book cover! What do you think?
The gorgeous gold and black book cover artwork is designed by Gill Heely, depicting a wolf and a rabbit - You'll have to read the book to find out why these animals are important in this story. I'm so excited to share this art with you today specifically, as the rabbit is also a symbol of vernal equinox. So it feels like there's some serendipity there. The proof copies will be sent out later this month, please message or tag me if my book magically reaches you in these tumultuous times wherever you are hunkered down in the world.
I wrote the first pages of this work in 2015 and pursued this brambly path, untangling grief and loss and courage and magic and survival. I tried to capture a storm of fury and love in a jam jar and share all that weather in these pages. And now it's arrived in my inbox today in spite of all that is going on and I feel like I'm holding that first page as though I'm holding a flower and sticking the stem down the barrel of a gun...
The coronavirus is a wave, it crashes and roars and washes over our world, we paddle like hell as we wash our hands. Maybe now it is time to change the way we live. Feel the shift, the shift in energy and the shift in all things. We have to change the way we have been taking things for granted.
Respect and solidarity with all superheroes working on the front lines of this pandemic and all the courageous people keeping the cogs turning in this crisis, thank you to the people caring for the vulnerable, keeping the hospitals clean, shifting deliveries, keeping the world moving, thank you to the scientists working on a vaccine, thank you, thank you to everyone staying home too, thank you!
Phone calls are good, talking and laughing is good. Being quiet is good. Feed your head. Nourish your soul. Help others. Donate to food banks if you can. Be kind. Go easy. Play safe. Read books. Listen to vinyl. Grow potatoes. Plant flowers. Ride your bike. Drink rum. Make soup. Wash your hands. Wash Your Hands. WASH YOUR HANDS.
Thank you for tuning in,
With BIGlove,
sgxx
Mrs Death Misses Death has been described by the publishers as an electrifying, genre- and form-defying fire-starter of a novel. Hannah Knowles, Senior Commissioning Editor at Canongate acquired World rights to Salena Godden’s debut from Crystal Mahey-Morgan at OWN IT! Canongate publish Mrs Death Misses Death January 2021, RRP £14.99 hardback.
"At the heart of the novel lies the friendship between Wolf, a troubled young black working class writer and Death who Godden personifies as female. Wolf becomes her scribe and begins to write Mrs Death’s reminiscences and memoirs. Using their desk as a vessel and conduit, Wolf and Death time-travel to witness deaths of past and present and discuss what the future holds for our humanity. As Godden swoops between literary forms in Mrs Death and Wolf’s interactions, they spark questions about class, race, gender and mental health. And ultimately, while mortality lies at the heart of the novel, Mrs Death Misses Death is a bold and visionary affirmation of hope, resilience and love."
