Delicate vice (The)

Delicate vice (The)

Unnatural

Allison is torn between her love for Lydia and settling down with Cal.

A paperback original. This book was published as a mass-market paperback without a hardcover printing.

This book was first published under the title Unnatural in 1960

189 pages

18 cm

Contested in the U.S.A and Canada by the National Organization for Decent Literature.

Men had hurt her so she embraced what she thought was a safer kind of love.

"BETWEEN TWO WORLDS. Allison had everything except decency and self-respect, but she did not care. She had love - a kind of love that was safe from pain and fear. Then one night at a wild party she met Cal Staton who offered her everything she could ask for. But he was a man and Allison was afraid. Would she be better off forgetting him, or did he mean more to her than being safe? A vivid and penetrating story about a girl who did not know which way to turn for love." -Back cover

The scene is an urban scene at night. Two women, one brunette and one blonde, stand to the left of the image. The blonde has her back towards the reader at a three-quarter angle to the left and is wearing a yellow dress, adjusted to her waist and with a slit at the right to mid-thigh. She is wearing white, low heels and is leaning against a cast-iron lighting pole to her left. She holds a cigarette in her right hand, arms stretched downwards. Her hair curls upwards over her ears. The brunette is standing to her left, facing the reader. She is wearing a purple blouse with short sleeves and a V-neck, and slim-fit black pants to her ankles, with black, flat shoes. Her hair is short and her legs are parted, left hand's thumb tucked inside her pants' pocket. She looks down at the blonde's chest. Behind the women, a street with buildings with neon lights is seen. Light comes out of doorways and windows, and the women are lit by light from the street lamp above their heads, casting their shadows on the ground below them.