Point of View

The novel is written in the first person in the present tense from Lena's point of view. The narrator is always in the "now" of the novel, telling what is happening and how she is feeling at the moment. As a narrator, Lena communicates her emotions and her experiences of the world. The reader travels along on her inner journey with her, seeing how fearful she is in the early parts of the novel, and how her fears change as she is exposed to love.

Lena is emotional and poetic and the reader experiences her emotions because of the novel's first-person point of view. While little may be happening in the world around Lena, in her inner world, she is experiencing fear, trauma, or excitement. Lena describes her emotions and perceptions in detail. The house takes on a life of its own as Lena sneaks out...