Point of View

This novel is told from the third-person point of view of an omniscient narrator. The majority of the story is told with a focus on Joy. Schine focuses on Joy as she deals first with the Aaron’s illness and then his death. The narrator is able to follow Joy’s thoughts, opinions and emotions as she struggles to take care of her husband and keep him at home. Although the author could have used the first person point of view to tell Joy’s story with a more personal tone, the author did not want to story to focus only on Joy. The author also uses input from the thoughts and emotions of Joy’s children and grandchildren in order to describe the interactions and conflicts between the generations. A first person story from Joy’s point of view would have given a lopsided...