Point of View

The novel takes place exclusively in the first-person limited viewpoint, wherein the narrator conveys the action through her own perspective without special insight into the thoughts or motivations of others. As such, the narrator is the reader’s only connection to the world of the novel and colors everything the reader perceives through the lens of her own experience. A character of great intelligence and self-awareness, the narrator is reliable insofar as she accounts for her own shortcomings as a narrator, often calling out her own failings and informing the reader as to any prejudices or preconceptions with which she views the world.

The narrator’s point of view is often worried, self-critical, or at the least introspective for much of the novel. As the novel’s story takes place less through action and more through the narrator’s commentary, the arc of the novel...