Anne Lister loved the Swiss Alps. She admired them throughout her travels in Switzerland. The landscape featured on Volume 2's cover is the profile of the Bernese Oberland and the peaks mentioned in Anne's journals. 

​

The humble Tschuggen is special to the author. She spent a few days admiring the view and the changing colours in the mornings and evenings from her chalet's balcony in Grindelwald.

​

Why a marmot on the spine?

The marmot is endemic to the Alps. Anne ate one in Formazza, Italy, likening it to 'hashed hare'. In memory of the poor marmot, it is featured on the book spine.

​

The motifs on the layers of the landscape represent the various nations Anne visited: the fleur-de-lys of France, Prussia's cornflower, Switzerland's edelweiss, Italy's traditional flower, the lily, and Belgium's flower of remembrance, the poppy. The poppy is symbolic of fallen soldiers in war and is especially poignant now as the world stands in solidarity with Ukraine.

​

The colours of the landscape represent the rainbow of the LGBTQ+ community and an acknowledgement and affirmation of Anne's bold personality and sexuality.