Point of View

The novel is written in the first person and is narrated in alternating chapters by Alice and Lucy. Both protagonists have a unique style and tone that differ dramatically, and their perspectives on the same events often conflict. This makes it so that both their points of view are required to piece together the full narrative, as neither is capable of giving an objective account of events. As the novel progresses, it becomes clear that they are unreliable narrators, often giving the reader partially or wholly false version of reality. Their motivations for this differ. Alice cannot bring herself to confront the dangers posed to her by her old friend, and her slowness to admit the violence of their past to herself leaves out critical parts of the story for the reader until the last possible moment. As Alice says herself, “what’s past is...