Who is Kathleen from Cradle and All and what is their importance?

The reader is first introduced to Kathleen in chapter one. Kathleen is a sixteen-year-old virgin, yet she finds herself pregnant. Kathleen resides in Newport , Rhode Island, with her well meaning but distant parents, Charles and Carolyn, and their housekeeper. Kathleen attempts an abortion, but upon her arrival at the clinic she discovers the doctor is dead. In a moment of compulsion and desperation, she attempts suicide. Kathleen recovers and is able to carry her baby to full term.