A Lobster and a Lady — Jeanne Whitmee

Brought up by foster-parents in a London dockside inn, 16-year-old Polly Harris has always had two burning ambitions: to sing in the music halls and to discover the identity of her real mother. Against a background of London in the 1880s we follow Polly round the music halls, slums and houses humble and grand, and finally discover the secrets of her past and future.