Ginny seems to lack character and often frustrates the reader by her indecisive behavior, as she is constantly influenced by peers or lovers. Seldom if ever does she take an independent stand or make her own choices. By the book's end, she is over thirty years old, prevented from seeing her child, and her future is by no means clear. The reader still feels she could be swept up into a new enthusiasm with the next person she meets. Ginny is a "childwoman," she has little to say or offer in her own right. Her experiences and acquaintances are far more colorful than she.

Since the novel is episodic, only one other character is present throughout, Ginny's mother, Mrs. Babcock. She possesses some force, strength and consistency that Ginny lacks, which may be why one critic (Diane Hass in Library Journal) said the mother emerges as the true...