The Unfortunates

What hope is there for Poppy Minkel? With her kinky hair, out-sticking ears and appetite for fun, her mother, Dora, despairs of ever finding her a husband. Correctness, duty and Dora Minkel Ear Correcting Bandages are the weapons in the Great Husband Hunt. But when Pa goes down with the TITANIC, Dora decides Poppy is to be her companion in old age. Poppy, however, has her own, thoroughly modern ideas, heading for 1920s New York with her "savoir faire and unusual beauty". She acquires two husbands, two children, and a variety of breathless accomplishments. But life is not all frippery, she learns to deal with the pain of the Second World War, the difficulties of a violent husband and the hard blow of family tragedy.
The Unfortunates by Laurie Graham, narrated by Laurie Graham