I have to write a research paper on a female author, and I chose Mary Higgins Clark. My thesis is: Mary Higgins Clark's books include an...

I would like to make a few suggestions. For one thing, your thesis statement could use improvement. Do Mary Higgins Clark's books include an independent female or do they feature one? What do you mean by independent? I suspect you mean an independent-minded female. So you might say that Mary Higgins Clark's books usually feature an independent-minded woman (not female) who comes across a problem she must solve on her own. I think it would be a good idea to say "usually" because that way you don't have to be responsible for the plots of all of that author's books. I believe she was a prolific writer, and she may have written books of a different kind at some time in her career. You might also use the term "feminist woman" instead of independent or independent-minded or independent-spirited.

As far as proving your thesis, that seems easy. All you have to do is select about three of the author's books, describe the heroine in each one briefly to highlight her independent-mindedness, and then tell precisely what her problem is. You don't have to tell how she solves the problem, but you might want to explain why it is a problem that would affect this type of woman. If you do this with three books, and select the best books to illustrate your thesis, then you only have to write a conclusion.

In your conclusion you would mainly repeat your thesis but do it more emphatically, since you could assume you had proved it with your three examples. In your conclusion you might also refer to a few other of your subject's book titles and simply say that these are more examples that support your thesis. This is an easy way of implying that you know a lot about Mary Higgins Clark's books.

You should give some thought to the words "include" and "independent." There is a big difference between "include" and "feature," and I suspect that you really mean "feature." "Independent" is ambiguous. It might just mean that she is financially independent, or that she is unmarried, or that she is self-employed. What do you really mean about these women? 

I have changed your topic from "Literature" to "Mary Higgins Clark." You can find a lot of useful information in e-notes study guides about this author. See reference links below.