Point of View

The point of view in The Love letters of Abelard and Lily is that of Lily Michaels-Ryan, a teenage girl who struggles with severe ADHD. Many times throughout the novel, Lily finds herself losing focus and mishearing words in conversation, ultimately providing the audience with a clouded view of the true events of the story. This technique is evident when Lily meets the doctor who will perform her brain surgery when he introduces himself for the first time, Lily cannot remember his name, and for the rest of the novel refers to him as Dr. Brainguy. The author uses this narrative strategy in an attempt to provide the user with a first-person account of what it is like to have ADHD.

While Lily is not be considered an unreliable narrator, keeping in mind her age and neuro differences is important for the audience to appreciate...