Point of View

The novel is written from the third person point of view. For the majority of the novel, this third person narrator’s access is limited to the protagonist Aaron Falk’s point of view. This means that the third person narrator is not omniscient. Rather, she inhabits Falk’s consciousness and describes the world the way that he perceives it and processes it. A passage from the end of Chapter 1 provides a relevant example of this formal dynamic. As Falk is driving away from the turnoff, he reflects on the mysteries surrounding the day of Kim’s disappearance. The narrator presents the moment as follows: “The decision Rohan had taken to leave the festival. That moment when he’d waved goodbye to his wife and child . . . The hours leading up to that moment. The days and months leading up that night. Those things that you...