Who is Carol Lawton from Spin and what is their importance?

Carol Lawton is married to Edward Dean, and she is Diane and Jason's mother. She is a former nurse, who tends to drink too much and relies upon her housekeeper to keep things on the homefront going. After Belinda Dupree's death, however, Carol reclaims her old life in order to care for her children after they been given the Martian drug.