What is the author's style in The Madonnas of Leningrad: A Novel by Debra Dean?

Language is used in several very effective ways throughout the narrative. First, the work shifts frequently between past tense and present narration. There are two main values to this - drawing the reader immediately and intimately into the experiences of the characters (particularly Marina) and, perhaps even more interestingly, both portraying Marina's experience of living in both her past and her present and drawing the reader more deeply into that portrayal.