During these years Elizabeth had a string of lovers in New York—two affairs resulted in abortions, one of which she alluded to in Sleepless Nights61—but none were serious enough for her to contemplate marriage, and some of the men were already married. (The “Alex” of the novel is likely a composite portrait.) An affair was a risky thing for a woman in those days; in addition to the fear of pregnancy, having a male guest in her apartment at night could result in her being thrown out. Elizabeth once recalled how, “if a man left your place at three in the morning you felt quite nervous in case anyone had noticed.”62 Intriguingly, the Sleepless Nights narrator says, “In those years I did not care to enjoy sex, only to have it.”63