"What a Woman Must Do tells the story of three generations of women and their struggle to break free from the tragedy that brought them together." "The year is 1952. A decade ago, Bess Canby's parents died in a suspicious car accident. Since then she has lived with her great-aunt Kate and cousin Harriet - a makeshift family that seemed as solid as any in town. But now in the space of three days, each woman must decide how much she owes to the past and how much to the future.".

"Bess, who is leaving for college in the fall, finds herself involved with a young man, recently returned from the Korean War, who is beguiling, worldly - and married. Middle-aged Harriet is comfortable with her spinster's life until a widowed farmer comes courting.

And Kate, deeply saddened by the death of her husband and the loss of their farm years before, longs to help Bess and Harriet negotiate their way into a future as secure as their present but knows she must first battle the ghosts in their lives."--BOOK JACKET.