We’re delighted to be back to reveal the cover for Rym Kechacha’s new novel, To Catch a Moon. 

Mexico City, 1955. The painter Remedios Varo sits in her kitchen with her friend, the artist Leonora Carrington. Together they let their imaginations soar beyond their canvases to create new worlds. 

 

In the surreal landscape of her imagination, Varo’s creations take on
a life and power of their own. A wheeled spirit of the earth kidnaps a baby star; a woman who is half owl draws herself a daughter; a juggler entrances a crowd of grey-cloaked men, a lion and a goat. The rules that govern this world bend and creak, old alliances break, and an impending apocalypse forges the most unlikely of friendships. 

Rym Kechacha spins a wild fantasy from Varo’s dreamlike imaginings, a world in which the moon’s daughter holds the key to mankind’s fate. Populated by witches, sentient animals, and a lion made of leaves, To Catch a Moon is a bold and fearless ode to the power of Remedios Varo’s timeless paintings. 

On the subject of the cover, Rym says:

“For a novel created from paintings by one of the best, most intriguing Surrealist painters of the twentieth century, the cover for To Catch a Moon was always going to have to be something special and Vince Haig has delivered! Remedios Varo’s work is spellbinding in the precision of its dream logic and the surrealist imagery of an almost-remembered mythology. To Catch a Moon features: moons locked in towers, men who roll around on a single wheel covered in hair, six girls stitching the fabric of the world and yes, a lion made of leaves. There’s a witch, a goat and a woman who is half owl and I didn’t make any of it up; Remedios did.” 

To Catch a Moon’s cover design is the work of Vince Haig:

“The cover for Rym Kechacha’s To Catch a Moon presented an interesting challenge. The book is both about and inspired by the art of Remedios Varo, but we were unable to use any of her actual work for the cover. Attempting some awful pastiche of Varo’s work would have been a disservice to both Rym’s vastly inventive novel and the artist, so we set about exploring other routes instead. The first version of the cover was a vaguely surreal collage evoking the sort of textures, subjects and autumnal colour palettes Varo sometimes used for some of her paintings. The result was reasonably effective, but a little oblique. It was in danger of making the novel look less accessible than it actually was. 

 

“At the suggestion of the editor, Dan Coxon, the second version attempted something a little simpler. A stylised representation of the character of Lion, who in the book is made entirely from autumn leaves. The version on the cover is (I confess) a little more tropical than that, but I think his green livery sits well against the umber/orange backdrop.
In a way, I feel the fact we were unable to use any of Varo’s paintings actually works in the book’s favour. It allows Rym the freedom to tell her story with complete independence; and it allows the reader – who will undoubtedly be inspired – to discover Varo’s work for themselves.” 

To Catch a Moon will be published in May 2022. 

Rym Kechacha is a writer and teacher living in Norwich. Her debut novel, Dark River, was nominated for two British Fantasy Awards. You can find her at @RymKechacha.