"She was faithful only to her desires"...
is pretty much untrue, as Alison is completely devoted to one love...
Naked Canvas is a 1955 novel by Warwick Scott, with the consistently attractive cover art that is the hallmark of Popular Library. Often the case, the cover misleads as this story is mainly about a young man who defies school rules when he refuses to involve the woman he loves in scandal.
Alison is a professor's daughter in an English college town. She is enrolled in art school but sees no future at it. Two of her friends open a book store, another is an amateur photographer - her modelling sessions for his art studies inspired the cover art. When her father has an aneurysm and becomes bedridden, visitors include his student Don Mailham, who waits out a rainstorm with Alison. The two fall in love, but Mailham has to be careful when he keeps breaking the curfew of the private college to sneak out and meet her. One night he is caught outside the gates and instead of heeding a teacher's warning to return, he defiantly continues to town to meet Alison. Facing expulsion, and denials he was meeting a prostitute (a major offence) he refuses to name the girl, which might have granted leniency. Little does anyone suspect it is the professor's respected daughter. Naming her and agreeing to never see her again is something he will not do.
Alison is a strong character who finds her way, working in a cosmetics shop down The Lanes, but this story is all about Mailham and his unwavering stand to protect her honour. Despite continued pressure from the college board, he remains devoted. Alison's father has a second stroke which brings her back home, and there is even a last hour drama when she decides not to keep her expected baby, surprisingly candid as she raises the money and finds a doctor on her own.
This is a slow and serious novel about a man of honour, and a love that cannot be stopped.
Entertaining, but don't let the cover fool you.
1955 / Paperback / 160 pages
Comments