Although Caroline's Daughters is not part of a sequel, it does mirror many of Adams's familiar themes and motifs. The celebration of a happy marriage between mature individuals appears in Second Chances, along with the themes of aging, life's losses and rewards, and the importance of friendship. Caroline's Daughters explores the mother-daughter bond fully, and is a departure from most of Adams's women, who are typically child-free and alienated from their mothers. Here, however, the strength of the family across generations is celebrated in the face of a culture which devalues the past and scoffs at traditional bonds, especially in contemporary California where everyone comes from somewhere else. Caroline's Daughters continues to develop Adams's recurring themes of change and self-discovery as her women break free of paralyzing fixations on money and success, and revitalize themselves through new work, relationships, and self-discovery, as reflected in Caroline's growing...