A common theme running through her work involves a female character "who is thrust out on her own from a sheltered environment into a vaguely hostile external world with which she is initially unprepared to cope. Her coming to terms with this hostile world provides the fictional interest of [her] novels."
Her work frequently features a female protagonist who is removed from a protected setting and forced to confront a challenging external world that initially overwhelms her. The process of adapting to this unfamiliar environment provides the narrative focus of her books.