Point of View

The novel is written from both the first and third person points of view. Every other chapter is written from a third person omniscient perspective, and every other from Praxis's first person perspective. The reader can infer that the third person narrator is also Praxis. In Chapter 1, the third person narrator details the fraught dynamics which define family life at 109 Holden Road. Then, in Chapter 2, Praxis's first person voice assumes narrative control, saying: "Now what kind of memory is that to comfort anyone? The memory of the afflicted child one was: the knowledge of wrongs unrighted and wounds unhealed" (12). The "afflicted child" to which Praxis refers in these lines is in fact herself. Therefore, the chapters written in the third person are Praxis's written synthesis of her personal life and experiences (12). The author provides further clarification on this relationship between the two narrators throughout the...