Three Women (edition 1982)

Nancy Thayer brings to life three women, each at an important turning point in her life. At the heart of this story is twenty-nine year old Daisy, the devoted mother of two young children and pregnant with her third child. Her husband finds her growing frumpy and deserts her for a younger, professional woman. Daisy's daily travails as she struggles with rejection, single-parenthood, and reduced income are brutally true-to-life for anyone who has been there.Her troubles cause ripples in the lives of her mother and her younger sister.
Her mother, Margaret, is approaching 50 and wants to enjoy the freedom of an empty nest. After a lifetime of being the perfect wife and mother, she walks out of her seemingly-happy marriage to seek her own identity. She's preserving the self she has discovered in the year since her divorce by moving to Canada. She embodies the joy and freedom of being one's own self, not responsible to any one else.
Daisy's younger sister, twenty-four year old Dale, is in the midst of the passionate throes of true love and at the same time, she's afraid to make a commitment to her lover, Hank, because she's afraid she's doomed to repeat her mother and sister's mistake. Then she realizes that letting go of her fear and stepping through the changes in life really enhances her love.

Each woman must take the plunge into unchartered waters and find a way to live that will be rewarding. They must live each mind-boggling day and decide individually what makes a life really worth living. Nancy Thayer writes with such frankness and honesty that you will be touched by three women who take life as it comes with its unexpected slaps in the face and its unasked for detours ( )