Pears on a Willow Tree by Leslie Pietrzyk

Four generations of Polish woman - each strong in her own way. The first makes the brave journey to America to establish a family in Detroit. The second dreams of a new kind of life but the pull of family tradition proves stronger. The third is most damaged by the struggle between the old ways and the possibility of a new life. The fourth escapes into a life the other three can barely imagine but eventually learns that we carry in us a bit of all that have come before. Each in her own way struggles to be the pear on the willow tree only to discover that no such thing exists but there is much to learn about the willow tree.