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She will stand, straight-backed in the rubble, greeting guests and passing out Champagne in broken tea cups with a smile so dazzling that no one will even notice anything’s amiss.

Juicy’s interactions with Opal, his old pal who similarly refuses to conform to gender expectations, and straight-backed Larry, who has a secret tenderness for Juicy, are revealing.

Once her health declined, she continued to direct her nieces with authority from her straight-backed chair and never gave up her role as teacher and matriarch of the family.

The chandeliers, Formica tables and straight-backed chairs of the Club have remained largely unchanged since it was set up more than 70 years ago.

And on the sofa sits a straight-backed woman with a fur hat and a dark brown coat.