Point of View

The point of view in the novel is almost exclusively third-person omniscient, usually focusing on either Eva or Angelo but occasionally focusing on secondary characters as well. The first-person perspective appears occasionally as well in the form of diary entries, written either by Angelo or Eva, at the conclusion of most chapters. Both Angelo and Eva are educated and intelligent characters, although their love for one another is frequently overpowering and the most dominant emotion either experiences. Consequently, the point of view from one often focuses on the actions and traits of the other.

The point of view shifts often and sometimes almost imperceptibly between characters, such that the narration often seems to be focused on both characters at once. For example, in the cemetery scene in chapter 2, the narrator states that Eva’s “feelings kept bouncing back and forth between tenderness and outrage” (41), indicating...