What She Had to Do - Mary-Rose Hayes

A desperate choice, made by young Imogene Sayle during the rigors of post-war England, triggers shockwaves through three generations of a family. Fifty years later, Imogenes daughter Penelope, married and living in California, learns of her mothers terminal illness. Despite a toxic childhood, Penelope is driven by an abiding love for her beautiful, imperious, destructive mother, and returns to England to care for her. The story, told from Penelopes point of view, is set in San Francisco and an English cathedral city, and covers the last three months of Imogenes life. While coping with the day-to-day challenges of her mothers decline, Penelope must also confront self-doubts regarding her own marriage and career, her relationship with her college-aged daughter Caitlin, and the unsettling reappearance of an old love. At the same time, Penelope attempts to discover what went so wrong in her mothers life before its too late, and why, most importantly, she seemed to blame Penelope for all of it.