Point of View

Drowning Ruth by Christina Schwarz blends three separate narrators. Most chapters open with title character Ruth Sapphira Neumann and/or her aunt, Amanda Starkey, reflecting briefly on some past event. An impersonal but generally sympathetic narrator then takes over and deals with related themes and events in the present, while preserving a consistent past-tense narration. The remaining characters speak for themselves only in snippets of dialogue, often filtered through Ruth and Amanda's memories. The main narrator is omniscient, being able to relay to the reader the contents of character's minds. Ruth and Amanda have normal limitations in this regard.

Time often shifts between the narrator's telling of the tale and Ruth and/or Amanda's musings. The opening and closing dates of the novel are explicit: Amanda is asked to leave her hospital job on 27 March, 1919 and Ruth selects 13 April, 1941 as a fitting time to end her...