What are the motifs in Lust by Susan Minot?

A recurring idea in the stories is failed relationships. Nearly every relationship presented in the collection has failed or is clearly failing. The primary characters in the stories often relate a catalogue of previous relationships that have failed and just as often relate a series of relationships through which their ex-lovers have subsequently proceeded. Many of the narrative's closure scenes are based around a character's musing about "the next" relationship they or their last partner will experience. The essential plot development of the other narratives is based on a character's sudden realization that a relationship is in the process of failing.