Point of View

Mothering Sunday is related from a third-person limited point of view. The focus is on Jane Fairchild. Other characters are seen through Jane’s lens.

The novel begins with “Once upon a time” (3), as though the story should be a type of fairy tale. Because the story is a tragedy and does not result in a traditional happily ever after, it could be considered a fractured fairy tale – a fairy tale which breaks with the conventions of the form.

Jane’s perspective is one of a woman who lives well into her nineties, remembering an affair in her early twenties. Set in 1920s England, the devastation of losses from World War I are felt and stand as a backdrop to the story. The war is not the focus of the story, but merely an aspect of the periphery. The use of memory and repetition seeks...