Point of View

Most of this novel is told by an omniscient third-person narrator. This narrator knows the thoughts and emotions of all of the characters. There is no particular character of focus. The Prologue, for instance, focuses on Bethany. Ron is the focus of Chapter 1. Connie is the character of focus in Chapter 2. Donna is the character of focus in Chapter 4. This point of view works well for this novel since there are so many different characters, all of whom have their own unique knowledge about the case. For instance, Pauline is the only one who knows for certain that Bethany faked her own death.

There are sections of the novel that are narrated from the first-person point of view of Joyce in the form of her diary. Consider Chapter 5, which is the first of these chapters that contain content from Joyce’s journal. Joyce writes: “I...