Through characters like Rosacoke Mustian,
Wesley Beavers, Kate Vaiden and Blue Calhoun, Price introduced us to men and women — and
critics praised Price for his deep understanding of women's nature — who, in some cases, were tentatively taking their first steps toward the secrets of adulthood, and in others were struggling to discover their freedom and identity in a world that would just as soon keep them imprisoned in narrow
cultural stereotypes.