Point of View

The novel is written in the first person, with Leda as narrator, and we see the action of the novel filtered through her consciousness. Leda is a successful English professor and makes her living through reading, interpreting, and writing, and yet as a narrator she is plagued with anxieties, obsessions, and fears that distort the lens through which she views people and experiences. For instance, she is unable to view the affectionate mother-child bond between Nina and Elena as positive because her past is filled with struggles around mothering, both with her own mother and with her two daughters.

Leda’s ability to be objective is limited by her bringing her own experience to bear on what she observes. When questioned about her motives for her actions, she often replies that she does not know. Her lack of self-understanding and her subjective appraisal of people...