Gilbert's writing is classical in narrative and magical in its clean, simple language. She evokes hard lives and hard individuals, always tempering their roughness with sympathy. Her stories are about strong people who demand their epiphanies. Gilbert writes with a fullness that is most evident whenever her characters try to chase down love. They are apt to make bad judgments (a matronly bar owner falls in love with her nephew; a suburban teenager falls hopelessly for the neighborhood bully's sister), yet they seek attachments as fiercely as they can. Gilbert's characters may act blindly, but they always act bravely, and they are unforgettable.