Point of View

The author uses a limited third-person point of view to tell this story. The narrative voice has a birds-eye view of the story, describing events that happen around and to Emily. The narrator remains with Emily throughout the novel and focuses on her. It includes her thoughts and feelings but does not get inside the minds or hearts of other characters. We are introduced to other characters as Emily interacts with them, but we never divert from Emily. She is situated as the novel’s protagonist from the opening of the novel and remains at the heart of the story until the last page. The letters that Emily writes offer the reader an occasional first-person account written in Emily’s voice. And the only deviations from this third-person narrative perspective focused on Emily are the diary entries written by Susan and the recipes left behind...