The cover shown in the GalleyCat item is what I would call a literary fiction cover—a soft focus close-up of a woman's face. That combined with the fact that the publisher ditched the U.K. title in favor of one with no unfamiliar words (I think Carhullan is a place in Britain but if you don't know that, it sounds made-up) suggests the publisher (HarperPerennial) wants a book that says "shelve me with the mainstream books, please." I wonder if the publishers will be pleased to win a speculative fiction award or not?
Be interesting to see if they even mention it. Although to be fair, the author herself seems quite comfortable with the spec fic designation.