Point of View

Phaedra Patrick relates her novel The Curious Charms of Arthur Pepper from a third-person limited perspective from the point of view of an unidentified narrator who alternates between following events in Arthur’s life, and more limitedly, events in Lucy’s life. The third-person narrator allows Patrick to add depth and dimension not only to Arthur’s character, but to Lucy’s character as well since she becomes such an important part in his life through the course of the novel, just as she had been in the past as a child.

Arthur and Lucy both enter a new stage in life through their reconnecting with one another. The limited perspective of the narration also allows for mystery: the narrator does not know everything, and does not tell the reader everything. This keeps the reader guessing just as Arthur must keep guessing regarding everything from...