Frances

Frances is the protagonist and narrator of the novel. Though she is a gifted writer, she struggles to express her emotions. She goads her boyfriend into breaking up with her twice, instead of expressing to him her insecurity about whether his feelings for her are as strong as his feelings for his wife. Sometimes she recognizes neither Bobbi's feelings nor her own. She is oblivious to Bobbi's initial jealousy of her growing feelings for Nick, feelings Bobbi acknowledges before Frances is aware of them herself. She is also unaware of her own romantic feelings for Bobbi until she writes them down in her first short story. Frances is an unconventional heroine for a romance, a bisexual communist with a girlfriend, Bobbi, and a married boyfriend, Nick. Her rejection of heteronormative relationship structures is not the source of her struggle to form emotional connections. The unconventionality of Frances' relationship...