Description: From the author of the acclaimed 'The Future Homemakers of America' comes a funny and moving novel about a high-spirited, unconventional woman whose life is a celebration of passion's triumph over prudence.What hope is there for Poppy Minkel? She has kinky hair and big ears - and an unquenchable lust for fun. Her mother Dora despairs of ever finding her a husband, despite the lure of the Minkel family mustard fortune. Social mores, duty, and ear-correcting bandages are the weapons of Dora's husband hunt, but they only serve to torture a girl who has her own ideas about beauty, love, and marriage.

Verdict: Jewish fine mustard heiress Poppy Minkel tells her twentieth century autobiography starting when her father dies while sailing on the Titanic. She grieves her loss, but continues her myopic observations of the world's great events over the next five decades. What follows is the recanted story of how she married a womanizer she met in a department store, how she gave birth to their child, and how his flandering led to her divorcing him. Poppy then lives out of wedlock with an ultra-extended member of the British royals, and when she becomes pregnant, she marries for the second time into a happier situation. By the 1970s, Poppy is an aging widow who reflects back on her life in a most inspiring manner.
Reviewed by Valerie Warhurst