Raskin is always original, tough, and witty. Her honesty obliges her to show that humor and the imagination are necessary defenses in a world which, although often lively and beautiful, has the ability to wound and crush. Every Raskin novel is a funny and imaginative perspective on the world, invariably with the message that people must make their own happiness.

Raskin was influenced by the fiction of Joseph Conrad (1857-1924), particularly his manner of depicting character. In Conrad's Lord Jim (1900), a young officer makes a terrible mistake by abandoning innocent passengers on a ship he thinks is about to sink. The novel demonstrates that whether a person is a hero or a coward is partly a matter of environment and chance. Before his death, Jim becomes a heroic figure, showing that he had the potential to be either a hero or a coward.

Raskin develops character...