Sweet Thursday - John Steinbeck

AT Cannery Row, derelict Californian seaside town, Doc's friends are worried. Doc's a scientist who makes a scanty living by collecting and selling marine specimens. He's unhappy, needs looking after.

What to do? Marry him off, of course. But to whom? Well, there's the new girl at the house called Bear Flag. She's tough and pretty, and not really good at her job because "she's got a streak of lady in her".

Will Doc take her on? Suzy is suspicious, Doc needs prodding. But when Suzy goes to live respectably in an abandoned boiler, things start moving.

Warning: not for the prudish!