Point of View

The Connellys of County Down is written from the third person point of view. Throughout the novel, this third person narrator divides her attention between the cast of main characters. In some chapters, the narrator’s access is limited to Tara Connelly’s point of view, while in others, her access is respectively limited to Brian Nolan’s, Eddie Connelly’s, or Geraldine Connelly’s point of view.

This unique approach to point of view enacts many of the novel’s primary thematic explorations, while simultaneously amplifying the narrative tension and complicating the narrative stakes. In particular, the third person narration enacts the characters’ attempts to “avoid the power imbalance” they know exists between them (12). In their own ways, each of the main characters thinks that they know “how to take care of” themselves (2). They therefore develop habits of self-isolating or of withholding information from...