Point of View

Nell Zink tells her novel “Mislaid” in the third-person omniscient narrative mode from her own point of view. The third-person narrative voice provides a unifying link between various characters, their backstories, and subplots, as Zink traces the lives of not only Peggy and Lee, but of Byrd, Mireille, Temple, Lomax, Felicia, and others. Likewise, the omniscient aspect of the narrative allows the narrator, and the reader, to know what is going on at all times and in all places in the novel. This leads to a better and broader understanding of events as they unfold in the novel. Likewise, Zink inserts her own thoughts about the narrative as she tells the story. For example, in Chapter 4, Zink poses the question directly to the reader as to whether or not Meg is selfish, and responds succinctly that she is. This helps the reader to better understand...