Point of View

The novel is written from both the first and third person points of view. The chapters titled with Tony’s and Oliver’s names are written from the perspective of a third person limited narrator. This means that in Tony’s chapters, the third person narrator’s access is limited to Tony’s consciousness. She therefore describes Tony’s experiences, circumstances, and relationships according to how Tony perceives and interprets them. The reader can refer to the opening paragraph of Chapter 1, “Tony, 1997,” by way of example: “There were bruises on his daughter. Tony counted three . . . The last one was fresh. Barely noticeable, a dash of pink on her cheek. It could even be mistaken for blush” (11). These lines are not representative of the third person narrator’s opinions or feelings. Rather, the third person narrator is inhabiting Tony’s consciousness and presenting his thoughts as...