Your promise

Your Promise by Camille Laurens is a novel that uses the mechanisms of a psychological thriller to unravel themes of lies and manipulation, emotional dependency, and psychological abuse through the relationship between writer Claire Lancel and theatre director and puppeteer Gilles Fabian - a love affair that quickly becomes, or perhaps has been from the very beginning, deeply toxic.

The cover is inspired by the favourite painter of the protagonist, Félix Vallotton. I chose to depict the setting where much of the story unfolds - the couple’s summer house by the sea - inspired by Vallotton’s distinctive visual language. I used tempera to recreate the flatness, vivid colours, and quiet, slightly unsettling atmosphere characteristic of his work, transforming the house and its surroundings into a visual reflection of the relationship itself.