Electric Literature is pleased to reveal the cover of I Can Feel It All Over by Ebonya Lia, which will be published on March 16, 2027 by Amistad Books. You can pre-order your copy here.
In this radiant and incisive debut novel in the tradition of works by ZZ Packer and Toni Cade Bambara, a Black woman fights to reclaim—and reinvent—her world after a little understood illness and a public health crisis threatens to upend everything she has.
Forty-seven-year-old Harmony Johnston is not suited for New York City life in 2019. From shampoos to synthetics to cell phones—the ubiquitous staples of modern daily life cause her physical pain, for reasons no one, including Harmony, understand. Doctors deny her illness is real, after seven years of enduring this private war, Harmony has her doubts too. Betrayed by her body and mind, as well as those closest to her—her obstinate physician sister, her sneaky best friend, and a spectral aunt who appears and disappears at whim—Harmony clings to the one doctor who offers hope.
In war, there are sacrifices: hair, boyfriend, sleep. Conditioned to place the comfort of others above her own needs, Harmony strives to be accommodating in an increasingly inhospitable world. But when the prestigious non-profit she works for relocates to an office with new wiring, painting, and carpeting (and the same old racial tensions) that exacerbate her pain, she quits her job and begins to set firm boundaries that upend her life, make her universe a little smaller, and magnify her loneliness.
As Harmony grows increasingly ill, threatening her relationship with her one sympathetic doctor, she cuts herself off completely from the outside world and plunges into depression and literal darkness. When she eventually resurfaces, the world is irreversibly altered. With everyone now nearly as isolated as she is, Harmony resolves to reconnect with all she has lost. But can things ever really go back to normal?
At turns devastating, funny, and affirming, I Can Feel It All Over is an unforgettable debut novel about bodily autonomy, art, connection, and the pursuit of an authentic life amid the world’s confines.
Here’s the cover, designed by Stephen Brayda, with art by Mafalda Vasconcelos:
Ebonya Lia: I Can Feel It All Over is the story of betrayal, betrayal by one’s own body and perhaps one’s own mind. Harmony Johnston is a middle-aged Black woman who is unfit for the modern world because she is intolerant to things like clothing, plastics and WiFi. They cause her physical hurt. After years of worsening illness and a lifetime of accommodating others, Harmony is going for self. She’s blowing up her relationships in pursuit of a moment free from pain.
How to visually portray invisible illness is a wonderfully challenging question. When I came across Mafalda Vasconcelos’ work I knew I had the answer.
This figure attracted me instantly and the more I sit with it the more I see and the more I appreciate. It’s still and yet it’s so dynamic, an apt metaphor for invisible illness. There’s a stoicism to the figure, which reminds me of Harmony. Inside of the body, however, we see the electric current zooming, the woodenness of a life in illness, and all those warm browns—a heat map of Harmony’s pain. And yet there’s the brightness of the lemons. All of these goings on inside of stillness can be read as a harbinger of Harmony’s shift to a more active, more confrontational, more Harmony-first approach to her work, family, and relationship life.
As the title and cover hint, music and visual art are featured in the novel. My protagonist is passionate about uplifting Black women’s art in particular. It’s only fitting that we spotlight the work of Vasconcelos, a Black woman artist portraying a Black woman’s body, on the story’s cover.
Stephen Brayda: After a few rounds of research and exploration testing various combinations of imagery and type design, author Ebonya Lia suggested featuring art by Mafalda Vasconcelos, a visual artist originating from Mozambique with a striking portfolio. Lia was drawn to her piece “Eva” and the way its tone, color palette, and dynamic markings on the figure’s skin allude to a heat map of pain.
The cover clicked quickly with Vasconcelos’ work, and I experimented with type treatments that deliberately guide the viewer’s eye through the piece and all over the body, making sure the figure remains central to the design.
