Point of View

This novel is told from the point of view of a third person omniscient narrator. Since the story involves so many different characters living in different time settings and different countries, this third person omniscient narrator works best. Had the author used a first person point of view there would have been no way for her to follow stories of multiple characters. For instance, there would have been no way to follow both William and Tina as they searched for Chrissie separately. There would have been no way to follow Chrissie, Billy and Dr. Skinner’s thoughts and motivations when it is first discovered that Chrissie is pregnant.

Language and Meaning

Significant about the language of this novel is its use of British terms. For instance, cigarettes are “fags” (8), the small apartment Tina rents is called a “bedsit” (14) and she buys a “pram” (228) an English...