The Story Behind the Cover

At first glance, it looks like a coffee spill. But like everything in Pale Privileges, Dark Roast, it’s not what it seems.

An ordinary cup of coffee becomes a lens for the novel’s deeper tensions. A single spill exposes the chaos beneath control—the truths that seep through and stain even the most polished surface.

The spill runs from back to front. The cup hangs midair, struck by something just out of frame, its liquid streaming behind it, the action already underway before we entered the scene.

Floating inside the stain is a ring. It looks like a familiar coffee ring left behind on a tabletop, but it suggests more: marriage, faith, belonging. The quiet systems of order that unravel when no one is watching.

From the center rises a candle. It’s the logo of the company Cody works for, but it also hints at something more: a warning flare, something burning down or struggling to stay lit.

The palette draws from the world of coffee: espresso, caramel, and gold. The tones feel warm but unsettled. Watercolor edges blur on purpose, suggesting liquid in motion and the uneasy sense that nothing here is entirely solid.

Every element reflects the novel’s central tension: the gap between knowing and acting, between seeing and staying silent.

The cover doesn’t just represent the story. It performs it.