The characters, setting and atmosphere of "The Bubble Star" are both rural (northern Ontario) and urban (Toronto). The novel focuses primarily on women -- three sisters -- and their relationships with each other and with men. We have marriage, we have affairs, we have a bit of sex, including a scene in an upscale bamboo furniture boutique. One of the secondary characters is a gay male. A lesbian couple appears, and one of the women is married to a professor who is having an affair with one of the sisters working in retail.

When asked by Dale Zieroth (editor of "Event" magazine) what she feared most about the publication of "The Bubble Star," Lesley replied, That people will read it and think it's a sitcom.' When Zieroth asked her what she hoped for the most from this novel, she answered That people will read it and think it's a sitcom.' Bourne goes on to say that she expects her audience will be anyone who reads "The New Yorker," anyone who works in retail (because the novel has central characters who work in retail), or anyone who watches the Shopping Channel.