Point of View

Irene narrates every chapter of the novel, looking back from Florida on the verge of graduating university to a span of events from when she was 19 to 22 years old. With the exception of Part 2 Chapters 1,3 and 11, Irene speaks with omniscient authority about herself, Luce and the town of Anklewood, but her reliability as a narrator is continually challenged by her lack of objectivity and self-awareness regarding her motives and treatment of others. She talks about Luce's eating, working,breathing, dating, using, and hanging out habits with a familiarity that sounds like they have been close friends for much longer than two-and-a-half years,and which betrays the intensity of Irene's obsessive scrutiny of Luce and her compulsive need to be together all the time. Because Irene's defining motive is to stay close to Luce by any means, be it in addiction or recovery, the reader can...