An Independent Woman continues the story of Barbara Lavette, the charismatic heroine of Second Generation, The Establishment, The Legacy, and The Immigrant's Daughter. Gently aging but as strong-willed as ever, she has become the matriarch of the large and powerful Lavette clan, whom everyone turns to for guidance and for the strength of her faith in the human spirit. After years as a liberal journalist, Barbara discovers the joys of a real love when she meets and marries Philip Carter, a Unitarian minister. Yet upon their return home to San Francisco from a romantic honeymoon in Europe and Israel, Barbara faces a test that proves to be more challenging and harrowing than anything that has come before.