Structure

In broad strokes terms, the author structures the narrative into seven chapters. Each one is focused on a thematically central idea that is, in turn, often connected to a central image. For example, Chapter 2 is titled “The Body of a Poor Girl.” On one level, the author’s narration focuses on her own experiences of being bodied, or of having a physical identity and how that identity was shaped. On another level, the author’s narration also expands the thematic idea embedded in the chapter’s title into a more general consideration of the bodies of poor people, as individuals and as a community.

At the core of the book’s chapter by chapter explorations of various themes, there is a loose chronology at work. In very broad terms, the chapters are linked by the author considering her life from childhood through to adulthood. That chronological element...