Take a peek behind the scenes at the book cover design process for The Pharisee’s Wife by Janette Oke, a new ancient historical fiction book set in first-century Israel.
In the novel, Mary is a young woman who is sought out by an ambitious Pharisee to become his wife, while rumors grow about a miracle-working Prophet.
In the post below, Tyndale designer Sarah Susan Richardson walks us through how she found inspiration, chose background images for the front cover, thought about the typography, and put together the back cover as well.
The Pharisee’s Wife is a biblical fiction novel set nearly 2000 years ago. Each fiction genre has a distinctive “look” in its cover design. For example, most rom-coms currently have illustrated covers. In the biblical fiction genre, covers typically feature more literal visuals that hint at the story’s setting or era, allowing readers to see the characters and get a sense of the historical context. (Click here to see some examples)
We research and find references to make sure the imagery is as-close-as-we-can-get accurate but also visually engaging. Sometimes, we hire an illustrator to imagine the composition from scratch, or, as in this case, we combine different images to create a scene for the cover.
While searching for images to represent Mary, I found the image below and loved how the woman’s hands held the shawl wrapped around her face. Compared to the final cover, you can see that we tweaked her face to make her look a little younger. When selecting images, it’s important to look for elements that can be transformed to fit what you’re looking for—like changing the hair color if the person has the right expression or body language. In this case, the position of her hand near her shawl and the way her face was bowed perfectly conveyed Mary’s personality and humble demeanor.
For the background, I used the painting above because it showed a scene of a journey being made. I explored many paintings, especially showing the Middle East, for potential background scenes and inspiration. It made me think of Mary and the journey she takes both physically and spiritually. I liked that there was a camel in the painting, shown as a method of transport, which, when seen on the cover, is a great supporting element to communicate and draw the reader into the time period of the story.
In addition to the cover images, typography plays a crucial role in the design. While it’s important for the cover to align with the genre’s established look, typography offers a great opportunity to introduce a modern touch. After experimenting with different styles, we chose a clean sans-serif typeface for the main text, which gives the cover a modern edge and helps it stand out from other biblical fiction covers.
Once the cover is approved, it’s exciting to carry the mood of the scene into other parts of the book with small design touches. For example, on the back of the hardcover, we used a zoomed-in section of the same painting and added dust particles at the bottom to maintain the atmosphere of the front cover.
I love the challenge of creating cover imagery that invites readers into the story. Having read Janette Oke as a teenager and enjoyed the Love Comes Softly series, it’s been an honor to design the cover for her latest book. I believe this story will bless many and encourage them to keep their eyes on Jesus even through difficult seasons in their lives.
In The Pharisee’s Wife, Mary, like most young women in ancient Israel, has little control over her own destiny. When Enos, a rising Pharisee, sees her one day in the market—the most beautiful woman he has ever laid eyes on—and determines to make her his wife, Mary’s fate is quickly sealed.
When Mary enters training to become the proper Pharisee’s wife, it is as though she has been abandoned in a foreign land, where one misstep could cost her greatly. Then rumors of a miracle-working, traveling Prophet change everything, and Mary and Enos are swept up in events that will challenge all they hold dear and forever alter both their futures.
Bestselling author Janette Oke is credited with launching the modern era of inspirational fiction and is internationally celebrated for her significant contribution to the Christian book industry. Her novels have sold over 30 million copies, and nearly half of her more than 70 titles have been translated into nineteen different languages. She is the recipient of the ECPA President’s Award, the CBA Life Impact Award, the Gold Medallion, and the Christy Award. She met her husband, Edward, while attending Mountain View Bible College in Alberta, Canada. They were married after their graduation and enjoyed almost 64 years of marriage, four children, and many grandchildren (and great-grandchildren) before his passing in 2022. Janette resides in Alberta, Canada.
