August (1983 Novel)
Encyclopedia
August, is a novel
written by Judith Rossner
focused on a psychoanalyst
and one of her analysands.
Novel
A novel is a book of long narrative in literary prose. The genre has historical roots both in the fields of the medieval and early modern romance and in the tradition of the novella. The latter supplied the present generic term in the late 18th century....
written by Judith Rossner
Judith Rossner
Judith Perelman Rossner was an American novelist, best known for her 1975 novel Looking for Mr. Goodbar, which was inspired by the murder of Roseann Quinn and examined the underside of the seventies sexual liberation movement. Though Looking for Mr. Goodbar remained Rossner's best known and best...
focused on a psychoanalyst
Psychoanalysis
Psychoanalysis is a psychological theory developed in the late 19th and early 20th centuries by Austrian neurologist Sigmund Freud. Psychoanalysis has expanded, been criticized and developed in different directions, mostly by some of Freud's former students, such as Alfred Adler and Carl Gustav...
and one of her analysands.
Plot introduction
The novel focuses on the relationship between a psychoanalyst, Dr. Lulu Shinefield, and a young troubled woman, Dawn Henley, from the beginning of their therapy together through to its termination.Characters
- Lulu Kagan Shinefield: Main character and psychoanalyst which the book centers on
- Anita Kagan: Lulu's mother
- George Kagan: Lulu's father
- Luther "Woody" Samuelson: Lulu's first husband
- Sascha Shinefield: Lulu's daughter by her first husband
- Nathan Shinefield: Lulu's second husband
- Teddy Shinefield: Lulu's son by her second husband
- Walden Shinefield: Lulu's son by her second husband
- Bonnie and Duke Mayer: Friends of Lulu's and fellow analysts
- Dawn Henley: The other main character of the novel and Dr. Shinefield's analysand
- Vera Henley: Dawn's adoptive "father", but actually her aunt
- Tony Lubovitz: Dawn's adoptive "mother" and partner to Vera prior to separation
- Leonard Silverstein: Tony's husband following her separation from Vera
- Gordon Henley: Dawn's biological father
- Gregory Barnes: Gordon's homosexual partner
- Miranda Lewis Henley: Dawn's biological mother
- Nell Lewis: Miranda's sister
- Mavis McLeod Hagerty: First housekeeper and sitter for Dawn following her mother's death
- Caitlin Hagerty: Second housekeeper and sitter for Dawn as an infant, and cousin to Mavis
- Dr. Leif Seaver: Dawn's former analyst
- Alan Gartner: Dawn's early boyfriend and biological father of her aborted child
- Rob Grace: Another boyfriend of Dawn's
- Tom Grace: Another of Dawn's lovers, and father to Rob Grace
- Bill Denton: Another boyfriend of Dawn's
- Jack Stewart: Final boyfriend of Dawn's mentioned in the novel
- Polly Campbell, Lillian, Jessica Rubenstein, Sandy: Friends of Dawn's