What is the narrator point of view in the novel, Weyward?

This novel is told from three different points of view. Altha’s story is told from Altha’s first-person point of view. Consider the first sentences: “Ten days they’d held me there. Ten days, with only the stink of my own flesh for company” (3). Hart makes it appear as if Altha is telling her own story in the moment to keep the reader in suspense about whether she was found guilty of witchcraft. After Altha has been found not guilty, Hart shares in the narration that Altha has written down her story so that future generations of Weyward women can read it. The sections of the story credited to Altha are the text from her manuscript.

The sections of the novel that contain Kate and Violet’s stories are written from the third person point of view with an emphasis on those characters. For instance, in the first section of Violet’s story, the narrator states: “Violet hated Graham. She absolutely loathed him” (8). The narrator is not omniscient because he knows only Violet’s thoughts and feelings. He is not privy to the way Graham feels about Violet. Graham’s thoughts about his sister are conveyed only through his speech to her and his behavior toward her.

Kate’s sections of the novel are also told from the point of view of a limited third-person narrator. Consider the introductory sentence in Kate’s story: “Kate’s stomach is still oily with fear, even though she’s on the A66 now, near enough to Crows Beck. Just over two hundred miles from London. Two hundred miles from him” (19). Again, the narrator is aware only of Kate’s thoughts, feelings, and emotions. Any input about the other characters is filtered through what Kate knows about them.