What is the author's tone in the novel, Whereabouts?

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 thus becomes about the narrator’s own journey towards self-improvement. There are few moments of outright joy or revelry, and instead much of the narration encompasses the narrator’s personal failings or conundrums she faces. In this way, the point of view informs the story because it reflects the narrator’s own thought processes almost exactly.