Point of View

The novel is written from the main character Joan’s first person point of view. The author nuances and complicates this simple narrative vantage point by employing the direct address. This means that the entirety of Joan’s first person account is written to another individual: her newborn daughter. Yet it is not until the latter chapters of the novel that Joan reveals to whom she is speaking. In the former half of the novel, the second person simply appears on the page without explicit explanation. For example, in Chapter 1, Joan begins the novel by presenting her reasons for moving from New York to California by describing her relationship with Vic: “It can feel very safe to be friends with an older man who admires you. Anywhere you are, if something goes wrong, you can make a phone call and the man will come. The...