Above: a cover painted by Rafael de Soto for 1952’s Red Lion Inn, a drama set in gaslamp era London in the year 1900, written by British author, biographer, and historian Robert Payne. It’s about a girl who at seventeen becomes a barmaid, later a mistress and artist’s model, and finally tries to lure into marriage a titled rich man. His name? Lord Feversham. That seems to tell us everything we need to know about the book: breastbeater with a bit of low wattage eroticism. We took a pass, but we love the cover.
Just relax. Like I explained, I need to get a good feel for my subject matter.