Dr. Claire Hearn, research Biochemist, is the only child of detergent factory owner, Frank Dawson. Claire's search for a cancer cure is the focal point of her life. Relationships with her husband and parents take second place to her work. Successful animal trials with the Serum she has developed convince Claire that she has finally discovered the cure for cancer. She is forced to look outside the safety of her own laboratory in order to bring this long awaited cure to the people who need it. In protecting her research, Claire has to make judgements, choices and decisions. She has to break out of her self-imposed cocoon and interact with those around her. Her over-protected childhood has not prepared her for the realities of life. When she can no longer rely on her father or her husband for the support she needs, she has to find the strengths in her own character.In the course of the novel, Claire has to deal with the breakdown of her marriage, the loss of her father and the resentment she has harboured against her mother. For the first time, she has to take responsibility for her own life. This novel is about an academically brilliant woman who is emotionally a child. Claire’s progress to maturity is the kernel of Parting Company.
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