WHAT A WOMAN MUST DO

WHAT A WOMAN MUST DO by Faith Sullivan was read for the Just for Fun Reading Challenge 2011.

From Publishers Weekly (posted on Amazon.com):

In keeping with her tradition of creating strong heroines, Sullivan (THE CAPE ANN) casts three generations of hardy smalltown Minnesota women in an empathetic post-WWII drama.  A careless "Way Back When" filler in the local Harvester, Minn., newspaper notes the 10th anniversary of the tragic deaths of Archer and Celia Canby, which elicits both sadness and outrage in Celia's aunt, Kate Drew.  Prematurely aged by arthritis and her family's misfortunes, 59-year-old Kate first experienced heartbreak when her sister and brother-in-law died of influenza in 1917, leaving their young daughter, Celia, in the care of Kate and husband Martin.  Against their strong wishes, Celia married Archer, a handsome but abusive Southern expatriate with a withered arm, when she was in her teens.  Just months after Martin's untimely death of a heart attack, Celia and Archer were killed in an accident and their seven-year-old daughter was orphaned.  With the live-in help of cousin Harriet McCaffery, Kate raised little Bess into a headstrong teenager.  Bess repeats her mother's romantic mistake in a risky dalliance with a married man, threatening her plans for college.  When 39-year-old Harriet decides to pursue a newly widowed farmer in hopes of married domestic bliss, all three women must examine their tangled pasts, free themselves from their dependence on one another and embrace new, independent futures.  Repetitive reminiscing that always leads back to star-crossed Celia and Archer slows down the first third of the novel, but once spoiled, insecure Bess and hopelessly romantic Harriet are ensconced in their respective games of the heart, the pages can't turn fast enough.  Sullivan is a good storyteller and the peaceful, rural backdrop she sketches stands in poignant contrast to her sympathetic characters' struggles with temptation and conflicting loyalties.

I read THE CAPE ANN a few months ago and enjoyed it, especially the writing style of Ms. Sullivan.  This book showed the same style.  The story, which took place over a short period of time, was slow moving but delved deeply into the characters of Bess, Harriet and Kate, with many references to Bess' mother Celia and the mistakes she made in her life.  All three women had things they felt they had to do with their lives and the book detailed the changes that would come to them as they made these decisions.

I'm planning to donate many of my books to the library, but the four books I own by Ms. Sullivan will be staying right here.