A Woman of Independent Means - Elizabeth Forsythe Hailey

This was passed on to me by pennyt for which many thanks! because I loved every page.  This is the story of a life - the woman of the title - from childhood to death.  Told via letters she writes (to all and sundry) during her life, she paints a picture of who she was and who she becomes.  She's self-opinionated, a go-getter, she knows what she wants and sometimes gets it but not always;  she marries young, has children.  She suffers grief and loss, sometimes of the most shocking kind, but somehow she picks herself up, shakes herself off, and starts all over again.  As pennyt said when she mentioned it in her list of monthly reads sometime last year, she's the sort of woman you'd like for a friend. 

At less than 300 pages, it's not long, but for me it was a joy to read.  I'd consider it an American classic, but forget the prefix - it is a classic, and should be read widely.