Point of View

With the exception of the Prologue, The Burgess Boys uses of third person, omniscient narrator. This enables the reader to learn from the thoughts and feelings of the characters as well as the conversations that take place among them. For the most part, it takes place in the past tense, but there are instances in which the narrator projects into the future to provide hints of things that the characters do not yet know will happen. An example is Book 4, Chapter 8, as Helen is about to learn of Jim's infidelity and the loss of his job.

The book's Prologue is written in the past tense, but presumably in the voice of the book's author. She begins by describing how she and her mother talk frequently about the Burgess family, provides a few clues about them and ends with a decision to write their story.

Language and Meaning