Point of View

The novel is written in the third person and the past tense, and the story is consistently told from Pella Marsh’s perspective. Despite the fact that many characters play significant roles in the book’s narrative, these vents are always filtered through Pella’s perspective, and the reader never has access to any information uncles Pella also has access to that information, either through hearsay or directly witnessing events. Thus, the presentation and tone of the events are filtered through Pella’s own beliefs and states of emotion. For example, while a reader may form their own thoughts about given characters, the novel consistently exposits upon Pella’s own thoughts about other characters.

One significant aspect of the mode of perspective is the fact that Pella is a largely passive character for most of the book. She has difficulty adjusting to her new life...