Val Lewton - No Bed of Her Own

[Calenture]

Published April 3rd, 2006 in the UK and USA, as the first title from Kingly-Reprieve, a new imprint of Kingly Books.

I was hunting around for the download of The Bagheeta, Val Lewton's story published in the July 1930 issue of Weird Tales, precurser of Cat People, when I found this novel which I'd had previously not heard of - possibly of interest to others here (I don't think I've seen it mentioned here, but apologies if I missed it). Click the picture to visit the site where I found it.

As a film-maker Val Lewton is widely recognised as one of the greatest talents Hollywood has yet seen. Remembered chiefly for his magnificent 1940s horror films, most famously Cat People, his cult of fans has included everyone from Alfred Hitchcock to Martin Scorsese.

Before making movies however, Lewton was a prolific novelist. This racy, fantastically readable pulp-noir was his favourite of his own books. No Bed of Her Own is the story of Rose Mahoney, a peppy, hard-boiled New York blonde who loses her job in the Depression. Cast alone into the underbelly of the cold, dark city with her meagre savings dwindling, Rose tries to survive a world of hypocrisy and selfishness – and the attentions of those only too happy to give her money, in return for services rendered – with only her wits to guide and protect her.

Published in 1932 – the first of the Depression novels – No Bed of Her Own was a bestseller in its day, and a minor sensation thanks to its astonishingly liberal sexual attitudes. When the Paramount film studios snapped up the rights to film the book, they discovered that they couldn’t get its taboo themes past the censors. When published in Germany, it was burned under Hitler’s orders. The book’s sexual frankness remains surprising today. But so, too, does its pace, humour and grit, and the cinematic eye and unexpected mind of its author. A vivid and strange snapshot of its era, it is one of the great rediscoveries of the year.

Featuring a new introduction by Val E Lewton, the son of the author, specially commissioned art from a comic book artist and an essay on Lewton’s writing career, No Bed of Her Own will be published in the US and the UK in 2006, as the first title from Kingly-Reprieve, a new imprint of Kingly Books.

For further information, please contact damien.loveATdsl.pipex.com (replacing AT with @ of course). This copied verbatim from the web page.

I've also posted this to the Val Lewton thread on the Thomas Ligotti site. Lazy, I know, but when I'm this far behind everywhere, every little helps.

N.B. Dem, when you're around - a few times now I've been about to post a pre-war item like this to Gruesome Cargoes but haven't been sure exactly where's appropriate. This one isn't a horror pulp, and I don't think there's a cinema section. No big deal, but maybe another section?

Oh, and Severance has put up links to some interesting old fiction downloads from Gutenberg Australia, worth checking out.