Never Say Stark Naked; A Novel

New York: Welcome Rain Publishers, 2002. First Edition [stated], First printing [stated]. Hardcover. Very good/Very good. Nancy R. Cohen (Jacket photograph). 367, [1] pages. Inscribed by the author on the title page. Inscription reads To Linda, with happy memories of this party and with all good wishes, Marjory Bassett. Phoebe's small-town world seems to close in on her, constricting her life and choices. Her only choice is to flee: she boards a train to New York City, hoping to never have to look back. She finds work with a flamboyant public relations executive and socialite. Plunged into a universe of lavish parties and sophisticated chatter, her naivete makes her a refreshing, enticing oddity among the glamorous and the cynical. But ultimately, Phoebe cannot disregard the agony of her past if she is to fight to belong and to be happy in her adopted city. The author of the novel Never Say Stark Naked (Welcome Rain Press, 2002), Marjory was chairman emerita of the Literary Committee of the National Arts Club in New York for many years, and she was known for her sense of style - bright bows on her patent leather shoes and colorful scarves in her hair. She had a wonderful laugh and a great sense of humor. From a Publishers Weekly article: Infidelity and tragedy combine to launch a young 1950s-era Kansas woman into a new life in Manhattan in Bassett's debut, an effective effort that begins when Phoebe Stanhope's husband, Niles, announces during a New Year's Eve dinner party that he is having an affair with Phoebe's best friend, Marcia. Phoebe throws Niles out of the house, and he dies while driving through a snowstorm to a local motel, a tragedy compounded when Phoebe learns that Marcia is pregnant. Oppressed by the familiar faces and old routines of Kansas, Phoebe quits her job as a TV scriptwriter and heads to New York. The attractive, engaging widow makes friends and connections before her train has even pulled into the city, and quickly lands a job as an assistant for a temperamental TV and PR personality named Selmabelle Flaunton. The tone shifts noticeably when Phoebe gets sucked into the whirlwind of Manhattan high society; Bassett introduces several romantic subplots, focusing on Phoebe's on-again, off-again romance with a pair of dashing but mysterious brothers. Bassett's heartfelt prose captures the pain of Phoebe's dilemma as the author tries to tackle Phoebe's romantic longings, her flashbacks to the tragedy and the glamour of her new life with Flaunton.