Point of View

This book is the story of how Joan went from one small, constricted point of view, to a much richer, happier viewpoint. Up until Joan's decision to separate from her husband, she had allowed herself to see life in a naive, storybook way, believing that if she could really look and act like a loving wife and mother, she could be happy living that surface-oriented role. As she began her journey alone, Joan's honest, soul-searching attitude allowed her to admit the destructive quality of the love she had lavished as a doting wife and mother, as she said in Chapter 1, Ebb Tide: "My twisted sense of loving was about giving and giving and giving until I saw the pleasure of my efforts on the other's face, so my own happiness was wrapped up in making [my husband] feel good." (Chapter 1, Ebb Tide, pp. 4-5) Joan realized...