Summary

Told in omniscient third person that revolves between the perspective of Mary Mumford and her daughter Angelina, "Mississippi Mary" is set on the Mediterranean coast in Italy, where Mary lives with her second husband Paolo.

The story opens with Mary telling her daughter Angelina to tell Angelina's father, and Mary's ex-husband, that she missed him. At the start of the chapter, we are in third-person point of view, but it is focalized through Angelina, who was annoyed and frustrated with her mother's request. Because we are seeing the scene unfold through Angelina's perspective, it is easy to read hers as the "correct" perspective about Mary's newfound life in Italy. However, the narrative will shift between mother and daughter throughout the chapter, which can be confusing to the reader who is not paying close attention and which also serves to destabilize the idea of...