Point of View

This novel is structured in two parts, almost like a frame story. The frame of the story is told from the first person point of view of Birdie, the benevolent spirit that resides in Birchwood Manor. These sections of the novel are designated by Roman numerals. Birdie tells what she knows of her story but her knowledge, especially after Lucy put her in the priest hole, is limited. As a spirit, Birdie is not able to leave the grounds directly surrounding Birchwood Manor. For this reason, she is able to get information about the outside world only when someone comes to visit her. Birdie’s constitution as a spirit also keeps her from being able to search for information. Even when Leonard or Jack leaves out information that Birdie might find useful, Birdie is unable to lift pages or even push buttons to access information...