comment on structure

The structure of Brazzaville Beach is perhaps the most initially frustrating aspect of the work. While the book is divided into specific chapters, each with a significant title, continuity is at first indiscernible. Within each chapter, the author volleys among the three settings and the three phases of Hope Clearwater's life, so that the reader is left wondering how the decision was made to adopt this particular method of plot structure. The reader is lead from England (phase one of Hope's life), to the beach life (phase three of Hope's life), then to Grosso Arvore (phase two of Hope's life), with this jumbled mix of events and settings, completely out of time sequence, proceeding throughout the work.