Wilson, Colin. Ritual in the Dark. N.Y.: Popular Library, 1961. Number SP-85. For Wilson’s Jack-the-Ripper-esque thriller set in mid-twentieth century London, the uncredited cover art for the Popular Library reprint presents a solitary blonde amid an inner city backdrop that's both gloomily sinister and brightly lit at the same time.
Title : Not Too Narrow, Not Too Deep Author : Richard Sale Cover art : uncredited [First published in hardcover, N. Y., Simon and Schuster, 1936. "Love, violence and hate on the high seas." The basis for the 1940 film Strange Cargo starring Clark Gable and Joan Crawford].
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"They were fugitives from horror."
Not Too Narrow’s cover art features a tough guy menacing an island maiden (love the bright red/orange sarong the girl is wearing!). Popular was one of the foremost practitioners of vintage style cover art, but here, for one of their most unforgettable cover designs, the artist is alas unattributed. The story takes place in the Caribbean but the girl’s appearance and garb suggest a Polynesian setting. In any case, whoever the cover artist may be, it’s classic Popular Library/Belarski-esque – intensely hyper-realistic; bright colors; bad guy menacing girl theme. “A strange tale with a supernatural hovering of wings throughout.” – review, C. Richard Lanman, Atlanta Constitution, April 26, 1936, p13A.
Title : Stranger and Alone Author : J. Saunders Redding Cover art : uncredited [N. Y. : Popular Library, 1951. No. 327. “Special abridged edition.” “He couldn't escape the color of his skin." Novel about a guy with a white father & black mother who feels alienated from both races. [Anon.] cover art pictures the novel’s hero in foreground facing another guy nuzzling a black woman in low cut green dress].
Cover art : uncredited [N. Y. : Popular Library Giant, 1953. G-121. Popular Library edition published, March 1953. Cover in James Avati style, but cover artist is uncredited. "A savage novel of forbidden love." First published in hardcover, London : Heinemann, 1953]
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The author's first book, Mercy is a WWII novel about a British soldier in the Pacific Theater who has an affair with a Eurasian nurse. Includes graphic descriptions of jungle warfare and Japanese atrocities. The [anon.] cover art for the Popular Library reprint depicts two somnambulist-looking guys who frame a shapely, forlorn brunette who wears tropical clothes. Nice texture is provided by bright lighting of the individuals from the undefined source in background. One criticism : lettering for the title is a little too large, and tends to mar an otherwise beautifully balanced design. The cover blurb (“a savage novel ….”) may refer to hero’s affair with the nurse. Some sources refer to a gay theme in the novel -- this may also explain the use of the word ‘forbidden.’
