Point of View

For the most part, the novel is narrated from the first person past tense point of view - specifically, from the perspective of Natalia, its central character and protagonist who, it seems, is exploring all these stories and all these events, playing out on multiple time lines, in an effort to understand both herself and her grandfather. That said, there are some inconsistencies about Natalia and her narration that are worth noting. While there are clear suggestions throughout the narrative that after the truth of her grandfather's death was revealed to her, and presumably after her conversation with the dead boy's father in Chapter 13, she went to Galina to learn as much as she could about her grandfather's life. Fair enough. But what the narrative doesn't explain is how she came to know as much about the early lives of people like Luka and the apothecary...