Help needed: Which is the best title?

[Divia]

I'd say by the end of the summer, if not sooner I am going to give my 50 pages to the agent I meet at HNS Conference. Super excited, and very nervous.

I was having a conversation with our on Michelle Moran and she asked what the title was. I replied "fallen Angels." that didn't do anything for her because there are a few other books with the same title, so she said rethink it. Good advice, I think cause I do want it to stand out.

Now I know the publisher may choose another title for me. But I want something catchy for the manuscript other than Manuscript

Summary:
Lily's world is in constant upheaval. Her boyfriend of two years is becoming distant and is starting to drink. Anna, her best friend, is in a loveless marriage and wants Lily's help to escape. Lily's sister is sneaking out at night to meet an immigrant boy and may ruin her reputation. But these problems seem insignificant when Lily is raped by someone she knows and ends up pregnant.

Being a sixteen year old girl in a small farming community in 1870 doesn't give Lily many choices. Dealing with the trauma of rape, and seeing her attacker frequently is one problem. Lily can hide the rape, but she can't hide the unborn child growing inside her. Something must be done.


Ok, sucky summary. But its something I came up with on the fly.
So what do you think the best title is...or do you have a better one? I'll take better, I hate doing titles.

[boswellbaxter]

I voted for A More Permanent Hell, which piqued my interest. Fallen Angels sounds like too many other titles on the market for my taste.

[LoveHistory]

How about Lily Among Thorns?

[Matt Phillips]

I voted for Suffer and Be Still, although just Be Still might be better, in my opinion. Seems to ring true for the setting - she is probably feeling social pressure not to make waves, to suppress problems, but doesn't know the solution that will allow her to do that ...

A More Permanent Hell might strike people as sounding odd because how can something be "more" permanent? It's either permanent or temporary.

Good luck!

[MLE (Emily Cotton)]

The first would work for me, but I would get it confused with Tracy Chevalier's book, which got unfavorable reviews from my friends. The second two feel more like SF than HF.

I like LH's Lily Among Thorns. another well known phrase, which implies putting unneeded decoration on something already beautiful, is "Gilding the Lily". I don't know if that would fit your story, but it is also associated with telling tall tales to the point where nobody believes them.

Since this is a farming community, perhaps 'Salt of the Earth' or something related, like Salt and Earth would work. That provides several images: salt in the wound and Earthy being the first that come to my mind.

If you wanted to stay with the fallen angels metaphor, an alternate that means much the same is 'Feet of Clay', or perhaps One Foot in the Clay, etc. Again, I don't know how any of these would work with your story, but easily recognizable phrases help people remember your title.

[Divia]

I ahem borrowed the hell title. It was an episode on Forever Knight. But I do see your point, and never thought about it. Oh those Canadians!


Be still could work. hmmm. Interesting.

Never heard the phrase Lily among thorns. That's a possibility.


Salt and Earth I dont think is flashy enough for teens. Feet of clay...maybe.

Thanks for the input!

[Michy]

What is the main theme of your work? The message you're trying to get across? I would aim for incorporating that into your title. For instance, I just read a novelized memoir by Jeannette Walls titled "Half Broke Horses;" this was one of the themes that recurred throughout the novel, and it was an appropriate title. Not to mention a unique one.

[MLE (Emily Cotton)]

The phrase Lily among thorns is from the Song of Solomon (in the Bible, not the book by Toni Morrison): "Like a lily among thorns is my beloved among the maidens."

the Song of Solomon is about physical love. The metaphors are a little archaic, but it is pretty explicit.

[MLE (Emily Cotton)]

[quote=""Michy""]What is the main theme of your work? The message you're trying to get across? I would aim for incorporating that into your title. For instance, I just read a novelized memoir by Jeannette Walls titled "Half Broke Horses;" this was one of the themes that recurred throughout the novel, and it was an appropriate title. Not to mention a unique one.[/quote]

Michy, is that a kind of sequel to the Glass Castle? How did you like it?

[Divia]

[quote=""Michy""]What is the main theme of your work? The message you're trying to get across? I would aim for incorporating that into your title. For instance, I just read a novelized memoir by Jeannette Walls titled "Half Broke Horses;" this was one of the themes that recurred throughout the novel, and it was an appropriate title. Not to mention a unique one.[/quote]

I heard that was a very good, but havent read it yet.

As dull as my theme is I think it would be death/change. Death of innocence, death of a town, death of a friendship etc. etc...

Oh! How morbid. Can death be a theme?