Point of View

The novel is told from the third person perspective but through the eyes of Marianne, Ania, Benita, Martin, and for one chapter only, Clotilde. The perspective is most often Marianne’s, as the novel is structured around her and the promise she made to Connie. Each of these characters tell their own version of events before the war, in the immediate years following the war, and recount their lives four decades later. The point of view is not told chronologically, as explained in the structure section below. The point of view is structured to reflect the way that the person is viewing events as they happen, with memories and flashbacks interacting with their interpretation of events in the present.

Telling their version of events allows for character development and understanding of the events surrounding them through their eyes. This style is especially effective given the...