Point of View

The novel is written in first person from Julia Lacey's point of view. This is likely the only way the novel would have worked. Knowing the thoughts and dreams of Julia is vital to the story, because Julia's dreams are a basic sub-plot of the story. Without that first-hand knowledge, the reader would have lost an important element of the story. It's also vital that the reader not know the thoughts of other characters. For example, Julia's mother, Celia, knows the horrible truth about Julia's heritage as well as Richard's. Often, someone would mention that Julia was very like Beatrice, and Celia would say that Julia might resemble Beatrice but that she was raised as Celia's child. While the wording is a clue into what will be revealed about Julia's heritage, it's not absolutely evident that Julia is not Celia's biological child.

Setting

The novel is...