With only two exceptions, Bank's stories focus on the life and personal development of Jane. We are introduced to her at age fourteen and watch her flounder through two long-term relationships before she fully accepts herself and achieves what we are left to assume is romantic bliss. By thus tracking this individual character, Bank is able to focus on numerous aspects of the experience of coming of age as a woman in the late twentieth century. The process for Jane is a treacherous one that only becomes smoother with self-acceptance.

Jane is also the mouthpiece for most of Bank's statements about the importance of familial bonds. Jane, though an urbane Manhattan professional, remains committed to her family to a degree that seems almost old-fashioned. Her reliance on her father and difficulty in accepting his passing underscore the real value of family. Furthermore, her relationship with her brother, Henry...