Rossner's characters in His Little Women suffer from the same fears and insecurities that have troubled her previous characters — the longing for love, the fear of loss, and the need for self-reliance and a positive self-image.

However, these characters choose different means of coping with these difficulties and have varying degrees of success in overcoming them.

Rossner's central characters always seem to lose their home support early in life: Theresa Dunn's favorite brother died at eighteen and devastated the family (Looking for Mr. Goodbar); Nadine's parents were killed in her youth in a freak swimming pool accident (Attachments, 1977); Dawn's mother committed suicide and her father drowned before her second birthday (August, 1983); and Nell's father left home and her mother never really took an interest in her (His Little Women).

Dealing with these losses is a lifetime preoccupation for Rossner's characters.

His Little Women is different...