Point of View

Barren Island is told from the first person perspective, particularly that of Marta Eisenstein. Being a historical novel at its core, Marta frames the narrative as the presiding historian of her own life on Barren Shoal, giving an accurate account not only of the intimate, personal details of her childhood, but also of the state of the world in general. Marta's autobiographical retelling is intertwined with political movements such as labor organizing, government sanctioned development and economic plans such as the New Deal, tensions leading to World War II among other international conflicts, and the global oppression of immigrants, Jewish people, and gay people. On the one hand, first person narration means that the text will be an intimate reflection of the narrator's perspective, and therefore offer crucial detail into their character. On the other hand, first person narration is also significantly limited by its...