Point of View

The point of view of this novel is third person, shifting narrative character among the members of the Jordache family, including Rudolph, Gretchen, and Thomas. This shifting of narrator allows the reader to follow the separate members of the family as they move physically and emotionally away from each other. This also allows the reader to dip into the emotional state of each family member when faced with similar situations, such as the death of their mother.

The story is about the children from the very beginning, but there are times early in the novel in which the narrator is Axel Jordache, the father, or Mary Jordache, the mother. This is a plus for the reader in these early chapters because it allows the reader to see the background of the main characters, to understand how their worlds have been shaped, and where their feelings toward...