Point of View

The novel is told from the perspective of an omniscient narrator. The narrator takes turns telling the story from Alex and Eliza’s perspectives, with two exceptions. The Prologue is narrated by a distant third-person narrator who gives an overview of the Schuyler family. Chapter 37, “Wedding March,” features a section which centers on Catherine Schuyler.

Language and Meaning

Because the novel is intended for a young adult audience, the vocabulary within its pages is not incredibly difficult. But, because the novel is set in the 1700’s, the word choice is a bit more antiquated, and, thus, challenging, than the typical young adult novel.

The narrator’s formal, stilted tone is used to create the illusion that the book had been written during the era in which the action is set. When the narrator mentions the whorehouse in Morristown, it is never actually referred to as...