In August, Rossner deals once again with the need for love and the fear of loss, but here the remedy is different from that in earlier books. Where Theresa (Looking for Mr. Goodbar, 1975) leaped into bed with whomever seemed willing and Nadine (Attachments) seduced and married a pair of Siamese twins to combat loneliness, Dawn talks it out and is able to overcome it. Both she and Lulu use sex to some extent, but in the end they find that the only permanent fix is in nonsexual attachments, in talking with and truly understanding another person.

Here the talking is formalized in psychoanalysis, but the same potential benefit could be offered by Dianne and Nadine's friendship in Attachments, or by Lulu and Sascha's bond or Dawn and Tony's bond in August, provided they take advantage of it. August is clearly the most hopeful of Rossner's books...