Point of View

The novel is written from the third person point of view. This third person narrator is largely limited to the main character Jean Swinney’s perspective. Therefore, the narrator inhabits Jean’s consciousness throughout, and renders the narrative world the way that she sees it. For example, in Chapter 1, when Jean goes to get her bike after work and an embracing couple is in her way, the narrator presents the scene the way that Jean is experiencing it: “There was something almost cruel in their self-absorption and Jean had to remind herself that it was nothing personal, just a universal symptom of the disease of love. Those afflicted could not be blamed, only pitied” (7). These are not the thoughts or feelings of the narrator. Rather, they originate from Jean’s consciousness and illustrate the way that she regards the world around her. Because Jean has...