Brown has become a virtual writing machine, churning out novel after novel, yet managing to remain deft and skillful enough to gain new fans with each one while not disappointing her growing legion of already-loyal readers. How does she do it?

Although Brown has her own distinctive, dialogue-enlivened style, she has learned valuable lessons from such literary giants as Fanny Burney, Gertrude Stein, Ernest Hemingway, and Katherine Anne Porter.

And though some critics might refer to Brown's writing as formulaic, predictable, and overly romantic, she nevertheless has shown that she can tell—and sell—a story with the best of them.

The warmth, intelligence, and insouciance of her female protagonists can be traced back to similar qualities in Burney's heroines, and there is always the sense in a Brown novel of the sometimes hidden power behind the fragile veil of femininity. She manages with dexterity a...