Louise Brooks has appeared on the covers of more than a handful of contemporary books, which is notable in that a good number of them are not necessarily about the actress or only reference her. These cover appearances are sometimes merely decorative — as an iconic figure, Brooks’ image was meant to be alluring, or perhaps evoke something about fashion or popular culture. With some covers, Brooks’ image was merely decorative — a pretty face, as is said, can help sell a book or magazine or whatever.
Besides this, there are a few other pages on the LBS website which showcase contemporary book covers featuring Louise Brooks or a Louise Brooks look-alike, including ones for fiction, poetry and drama, general non-fiction, and works of film history. Those pages are:
FICTION | POETRY & DRAMA | NON-FICTION | FILM HISTORY
It is notable in that a good number of the works of ficition shown below are not about Louise Brooks, or only reference her in passing. And sometimes they have nothing to do with Brooks at all. That’s the case with Ingrid Betancourt’s acclaimed debut novel, The Blue Line, which is set against the backdrop of Argentina’s Dirty War. Why a likeness of Brooks was placed on the cover of that 2016 book is not apparent.
With about half of the covers displayed below, Brooks’ image was merely decorative — a pretty face can help sell a book or magazine or whatever. As an iconic figure, Brooks’ image and sometimes only her likeness was enough to evoke the 1920s, the Jazz Age, or Weimer Berlin. That the case with the Mammoth Book of Roaring Twenties Whodunnits, or Volker Kutscher’s celebrated historical thriller, Babylon Berlin (the basis for the hit television series). Sometimes, only the shape of Brooks’ iconic bobbed hair was enough to suggest her – and thus suggest that certain something else.
Brooks is a major or minor character in a few of these books displayed below, such as Willem Frederik Hermans’ Een heilige van de horlogerie or Laura Moriarty’s The Chaperone, the basis for the PBS film. Of course, it is not surprising that Brooks appears on the cover of reissues The Canary Murder Case, Lulu (Pandora’s Box), and The Diary of a Lost Girl — because she starred in movies made from those books. What is surprising, however, is that Brooks has now appeared on five different editions of various works by F. Scott Fitzgerald. Although the actress and the writer once met, it was Colleen Moore who Fitzgerald credited with lighting up the Jazz Age. Today, Brooks’ look has become so iconic her image serves as a kind of visual shorthand for the Jazz Age and all that it might represent.
The books below are displayed in two groups — one for fiction, and one for drama and poetry. Each cover features Brooks’ image, or a likeness clearly meant to represent her. (The one related title not included here which has her name but not her image on the cover is Louise Brooks est morte, a 1993 French novel by Patrick Mosconi. It is more Hans Bellmar than our Lulu.) The titles showcased here are listed in chronological order by date of the edition issued, not when the book may have been first published. Each of the titles shown below were published in a print edition, except for the three marked with an * asterisk which seem to be epubs only.
A 2012 article by Thomas Gladysz on the subject of contemporary book covers featuring Louise Brooks can be found on the Huffington Post, “Louise Brooks – Cover Girl and Secret Muse of the 20th Century.” Notably, Louise Brooks also appeared on number of books published in the past. The LBS website which features a generously illustrated page of vintage Photoplay Editions (movie tie-in books and booklets) as well as a page of a few unrelated Vintage Book Covers, which showcases two works of fiction! Know of other cover appearances? Have a better scan or additional information to share? The LBS would love to hear from you via its CONTACT page.
COVER APPEARANCES – FICTION:
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| Gods of Riverworld Philip José Farmer Putnam, 1983 fantasy | USA |
Een heilige van de horlogerie Willem Frederik Hermans Uitgeverij de Bezige Bij, 1987 fiction | The Netherlands |
Bernice Bobs Her Hair F. Scott Fitzgerald Penguin, 1990 fiction | UK |
Tagebuch einer Verlorenen by Margarete Böhme Suhrkamp, 1995 fiction | Germany |
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| Free Love Ali Smith Virago Press, 1995 fiction | UK |
Nevermore William Hjortsberg Orion, 1995 fiction | UK |
Embrassez-moi Katherine Pancol Livre De Poche, 2003 fiction | France |
The Invention of Morel Adolfo Bioy Casares New York Review Books Classics, 2003 fiction | USA (read more) |
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| Roaring Twenties Whodunnits Mike Ashley Carroll & Graf, 2004 anthology | USA |
Le Manuscrit Louise B. Matthieu Baumier Les Belles Lettres, 2005 fiction | France |
Istantanee Osvaldo Guerrieri Neri Pozza, 2009 fiction | Italy |
The Diary of a Lost Girl Margarete Böhme PandorasBox Press, 2010 fiction | USA |
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| Flappers and Philosophers F. Scott Fitzgerald Penguin Modern Classics, 2010 fiction | USA |
Flappers and Philosophers F. Scott Fitzgerald ReadaClassic, 2010 fiction | USA |
Lulu Samuel Bernstein Walford Press, 2010 fiction | USA |
New Confessions William Boyd Penguin, 2010 fiction | UK |
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| Een heilige van de horlogerie Willem Frederik Hermans Uitgeverij de Bezige Bij, 2012 fiction | The Netherlands |
The Chaperone Laura Moriarty Riverhead Books, 2012 fiction | USA |
The Killing of Emma Gross Daniel Seaman Five Leaves Publications, 2013 crime fiction | USA |
The Vanity Robert S. Murillo CreateSpace, 2013 fantasy | USA |
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| Virtually Forever Anthony Eames Eames Media, 2013 science fiction | USA |
Tender Is The Night F. Scott Fitzgerald Penguin, 2014 fiction | UK |
Archives du vent Pierre Cendors Le Tripod, 2015 fiction | France |
A Caixa de Pandora Alexandre Lobão Franco Editora, 2015 fantasy | Brazil |
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| El Crimen de la Canario * S. S. Van Dine Open Road Espanol, 2014 crime fiction | USA |
Diamond Cynthia Jordan Emerald Eagle, 2015 fiction | USA |
Louise Brooks: Detective Rick Geary NBM ComicsLit, 2015 graphic novel | USA |
Siegfried Follies Son Excellence Otto Tabou, 2015 historical fiction | France |
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| The Blue Line Ingrid Betancourt Penguin Books, 2016 fiction | USA |
Crazy Rhythm by Daniel Vian Spectrum Tango, 2017 fiction | USA |
El caso del asesinato de La Canario S. S. Van Dine Reino de Cordelia S.L., 2017 crime fiction | Spain |
Lulu in New York and Other Tales Robert Power Unicorn Publishing Group, 2017 fiction | USA |
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| Babylon Berlin Volker Kutscher Picador, 2018 crime fiction | USA |
The Worst Thing Nora Gaskin Lystra Books, 2018 suspense | USA |
Countess (Shincho Bunko) Shigehiko Hasumi Shinchosha, 2019 fiction | Japan |
Tagebuch einer Verlorenen * Margarete Böhme SAGA Egmont, 2020 fiction | Germany |
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| Bernice Bobs Her Hair F. Scott Fitzgerald Independently published, 2021 fiction | USA |
Diario de una perdida Margarete Böhme El Paseo Editorial, 2021 fiction | Spain |
Un Dernier Charleston Louise Daniel Bernard Éditions Lemart, 2021 fiction | France |
Pandora’s Box Scott R. Howe Independently published, 2022 fiction | USA |
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| Un Dernier Charleston Louise Daniel Bernard Ginkgo Eds, 2023 fiction | France |
The Canary Murder Case by S. S. Van Dine Bigfontbooks, 2023 crime fiction | USA |
Embrassez-moi Katherine Pancol Livre De Poche, ???? fiction | France |
The Widow Keri Reardon unknown, ???? fiction | USA |