Kitty Foyle: The Natural History of a Woman by Christopher Morley was famously made into a Hollywood film starring Ginger Rogers in the title role. She won the Academy Award for Best Actress in 1941.
I found a used copy of the book on Amazon. Here is the opening:
What a grand guy. Sometimes he used to sneak a slug of whiskey in the forenoon, against doctor’s orders. “What I like about this Daylight Saving, you don’t have to wait so long for a drink.” Once and a while, when I’m fixing in front of the glass I give myself a wink, I can catch just a shadow of that mischief look of his when he took the bottle from the cupboard. He said “Rum, Rheumatism and Rebellion” as he felt the stuff warm up his giblets. That wasn’t a bad summary of his troubles.
“Pop’s Rheumatism” was one of the sayings of my childhood. It made things different in a lot of ways…
I love books about strong women.
Grace Magazine 