Point of View

The Night She Disappeared takes a third person limited point of view. Instead of focusing on a single protagonist, it alternates between three. The novel covers events from Kim’s perspective (June 2017 to September 2018), from Sophie’s perspective (August to September 2018), and from Tallulah’s perspective (October 2016 to September 2018). It also includes Liam’s version of events: in the epilogue, and on pages 163 – 169. Although none of these characters tell their story in the first person, the novel grants us access to their personal thoughts. The narrator is neither omniscient nor individualized, so there is nothing in the narrative voice to distract us from the main characters and their stories.

The variety of perspectives is effective not because of any striking contrasts in personality or opinion between the women, but because they experience the action from different positions and at different points on the timeline. At...