Caucasia | Style

Caucasia Style

Point of View

Caucasia is written in first person past tense from the point of view of the protagonist, Birdie Lee. The novel is retrospective, meaning that although the events portrayed take place when Birdie is between the ages of seven and fourteen, the narrator is somewhat older - perhaps in her early twenties. This retrospective view is most apparent in the prologue, when Senna discloses the crux of the plot, that the two sisters will be separated. Thus, many of Birdie's perceptions, although limited to her experiences, are colored by the narrator's greater knowledge and understanding. This is especially true during the separation from Cole and Papa, which the child Birdie assumes to be temporary but which the reader knows will be of several years, if not permanent.

To Senna's great credit as a writer, she is able to successfully execute a scene with limited information, with a retrospective narrator. Birdie's naive...
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