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Alias Madame Doubtfire, The Summer-House Loon, Fine's first published novel, deals with the humorous side of family relationships gone awry and growing up in the ensuing turmoil. Humor and social issues, such as divorce, single parenthood, and social activism, are a constant in Fine's fiction. "Growing through to full autonomy is, for anyone, a long and doggy business; for some, more sabotaged than others by their nature or upbringing," Fine told
Twentieth-Century Children's Writers, "it can seem impossible. I try to show that the battle through the chaos and confusions is worthwhile and can, at times, be seen as very funny."
While Fine is noted for the humorous scenes that punctuate her novels, the circumstances surrounding the writing of The Summer-House Loon were far from funny. "Clinically depressed, and kept from the library by a snowstorm, I waited till the baby fell asleep," she recalls in her Something About the Author Autobiography Series essay, "then snatched up a pencil and began to write. It came out fast and easily.... When I look back at the bleak miserable creature who sat down to write it, I can hardly believe that she was me." Originally turned down by two publishers, Fine eventually entered the manuscript in a contest run by the Guardian newspaper.
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