Point of View

The point of view in this novel varies from chapter to chapter. The chapters titled with Laurent's name are told from Laurent's perspective in the form of a first person narrative. The chapters titled with Beauty's name are relayed through a limited third person narrator who knows the actions that occur and Beauty's thoughts but cannot provide the thoughts of other characters.

The text of the novel is mostly exposition but there is some dialogue present throughout the book. This lack of verbalization throughout directs the focus to the sexual relationships and the ideas of love that are present. Many of these relationships, along with the thoughts that the reader is privy to, provide the foreshadowing that occurs during the story.

Laurent and Beauty's thoughts and feelings about other characters seem to guide the action of the plot a great deal and without access to these...