Point of View

This novel is written using a combination of a first-person narrator and a second-person narrator. For the most part, the novel is written using a conventional first-person narrator, with the main character, Marie Mitchell, narrating the story. However, unlike most novels, the story itself provides the (fictional) reason for the manuscript’s existence: it is an extended letter, detailing the important moments of Marie’s life, for her four-year-old twin sons to read when they become older. At the end of the first chapter, shortly after arriving in Martinique after fleeing Connecticut, Marie states that she has sat down and begun writing: “I’ve pulled my mother’s armchair up to the vanity, and I’m sitting here, trying to put as much of our story down on paper as possible before you wake up. […] I’m writing this to give you honest answers to...