Point of View

The point of view of Housegirl is third-person omniscient, fluctuating between inner thoughts and outward actions of characters, focusing most heavily on Belinda and Amma’s perspectives. All of the main characters in this novel are women or young women, and the most focus and detail is devoted to the issues that they specifically face as women of color. The narrative also often switches between present and past tense, as important events tend to happen between chapters or in Belinda’s distant past.

Belinda holds the role of narrator most frequently, and the narrative follows her as she travels, leading to readers most heavily empathizing with her version of events. Her descriptions are heavily colored by her own personal beliefs, and the details that she focuses on tend to connect to previous experiences that she has had. Amma takes the floor some of the time...