Point of View

The novel is written in the first person and the past tense. Janina is the novel’s protagonist, narrator, and only point-of-view character. Thus, Janina has more control than any other character in terms of how the story is presented. This fact is necessary for the central twist and narrative subversion of the story, namely the ultimate revelation that Janina is the murderer. Janina’s supposed attempts to investigate the murder are a means not only of trying to misdirect the police, but also a means of misdirecting the reader. The novel thereby exposes how truth and information can be fundamentally altered by perspective and by narrative presentation.

The novel’s thematic substance relies heavily on clashes between character perspectives, specifically by dramatizing conceptual debates between characters so as to explores the merits and demerits of the ideas presented. For example, Janina’s thoughts about...