Point of View

The novel is narrated in first person point-of-view, switching back and forth between two narrators, Monique Grant and Evelyn Hugo. Monique is narrating the present-day events in which she has been asked by her employer to interview Evelyn, a reclusive Hollywood icon. During the course of this interview, Evelyn narrates the events from her past, beginning circa 1952 when she is 14 years old and ending in roughly 2000 when Celia St. James dies. The frequent pauses in Evelyn's narration of her life story allow the reader insight into how this story is affecting Monique as she struggles with confusion and difficult decisions surrounding her career and her recent separation from her husband. Monique is inspired by Evelyn's strength and savvy, and she is able to find some of that power within herself when she must negotiate with her editor at Vivant and when she tells David that...