Lady of the Quay - A dream book cover and map commission

Historical fiction cover illustration and literary map design for a novel set in sixteenth-century Berwick-upon-Tweed

When author Amanda Roberts approached me to illustrate a map for her new historical fiction novel, Lady of the Quay, I had no idea it would grow into one of the most interesting projects I’ve worked on to-date. Set in the fortified border town of Berwick-upon-Tweed in the late 16th Century, the book tells the story of Isabella Gilhespy, a young woman forced to navigate betrayal, danger, and a web of secrets following her father’s untimely death.

As an illustrator living and working in Berwick, and someone with a long-standing interest in history and architecture, this project felt like the perfect fit! What began as a commission to create an illustrated historical map soon evolved into a full custom book cover design, including hand-drawn illustration, bespoke typography, and design for the front, spine, and back.

The Illustrated Map: Reimagining 16th-century Berwick

Amanda’s original brief was to create a literary map of Berwick-upon-Tweed, circa 1560, to appear as a double-page spread within the paperback edition of the novel. She shared several historical sources with me that she’d used when writing the story, including the well-known ‘True Description’ map - one of the few drawn during the period - along with a list of real and fictional locations to include, such as the Castle, the Tolbooth (Town Hall), Isabella’s house, and her Caravel-style ship moored in the River Tweed.

With only limited visual references surviving from the time, I undertook a deep dive into the urban and architectural history of Berwick and the Borders, drawing from academic research, site visits, and contemporary depictions of fifteenth- and sixteenth-century buildings, looking particularly at vernacular architectural styles. My goal was to create something visually compelling and historically grounded, while still serving the narrative and artistic goals of the book.

I hand-drew the final map at 1.5x the size of the version to be included in the novel, in order to be able to work on the finer detail. I scanned my original artwork and then digitised it to allow me to adapt the layout to fit the dimensions of the spread. For the final touches, I hand-lettered labels and street names in a simplified Secretary script commonly used during the period, and developed a custom illustrated cartouche.

The map of 16th Century Berwick-upon-Tweed as it appears in the novel, Lady of the Quay, by Amanda Roberts

The Book Cover: A Repeatable Identity for a Fiction Series

After seeing the map, Amanda invited me to develop a full cover design for the novel (front, spine and back), for the first book in what will become a series. Her brief was to create something recognisably ‘historical fiction’, with a visual identity that could evolve across future titles. We wanted to reflect the unique setting of Berwick, hint at the female protagonist, and capture the tone of mystery and tension in the story.

I developed three cover concepts, the third of which stood out as Amanda’s preferred direction: a reverse silhouette of a woman in Elizabethan dress, filled with a linework illustration of The Lady Isabella (the ship) and the old quayside, framed by the medieval town walls.

In our feedback session on the cover concept, Amanda asked if I could incorporate some kind of border to separate the author’s name at the bottom of the front cover from the rest of the design, as well as to look at different placements for the masthead and other elements of the design. After some tweaking, I proposed a revised layout and, once agreed, set to work creating it.

Every element on the cover was hand-drawn, including the wave border motif (that I designed to match the stylised waves in the map cartouche), a repeating Tudor rose pattern to anchor the cover in its time period, and custom hand-lettered masthead text. These were digitised and combined into a full wraparound design for the paperback format, carefully laid out to include the spine and back cover. The overall look evokes the sense of discovery, danger, and determination at the heart of Isabella’s story.

The finished version of the full cover (front, spine and reverse) for Lady of the Quay by Amanda Roberts

Challenges & Creative Solutions

Reconstructing a largely lost version of Berwick-upon-Tweed from a period where very little actual architecture now remains intact and where few drawings or renditions of the town have survived, required both rigorous historical research and careful artistic license. Balancing accuracy with narrative clarity - particularly for the map - meant making informed decisions about what to include, exclude or shift in scale. Likewise, creating a series-friendly cover design that felt both timeless and era-specific took several rounds of development and refinement.

Client Response

Amanda was so pleased with the initial map that she expanded the project to include the full cover, plus an additional spot illustration to act as a visual page break throughout the book.

“In creating the illustrated map and cover for Lady of the Quay, Ali interpreted my vision perfectly. She led the creative design for the cover, coming up with a concept that was beyond anything I had imagined. She is very professional to work with, meets deadlines (even when they are incredibly tight 😳) and always with a smile.”

The book is currently available to buy from Amazon as an e-book and will be available as a paperback book that can be purchased directly from the author from 10th May 2025.

Spot Illustration

Amanda also asked me to create a spot illustration that she could use to act as a page break throughout the novel.

One of the main cargoes carried by The Lady Isabella in the story is wine from the continent, so some wine barrels seemed like the perfect subject for the spot illustration.

I took the stacked wine barrels illustration that was part of the map cartouche and added more detail, to create a linked spot illustration.

Looking Ahead

This project brought together many of my passions: historical research, architectural illustration, narrative design, and storytelling through visuals. I’m keen to take on more book illustration work, particularly for:

• Historical fiction covers & maps

• Non-fiction books focused on nature, wildlife, and place

• Fiction rooted in landscape, folklore, and local history

• Collaborations with self-publishing authors and independent publishers

If you're an author or publisher looking for a book cover illustrator, a custom literary map, or bespoke illustrations that bring your story’s world to life, I’d love to hear from you.

You can purchase Lady of the Quay direct from the author at www.amandarobertsauthor.co.uk