Point of View

I Was Anastasia is told from two different points of view by three different narrators. Anastasia’s sections of the novel, for instance, are told from Anastasia’s first-person point of view. The sections of the novel told by Anna, however, are told from the third-person narrator with a focus on Anna. The narrator records Anna’s feelings, emotions, and thoughts but does not have any knowledge of the feelings, emotions, and thoughts of other characters. Anna has claimed that she is Anastasia; so, it would make sense for the novel to be narrated from the first-person point of view for both characters. However, the author chooses not to do so. Using different points of view is one way that the author differentiates between Anastasia and Anna, indicating to the reader from the beginning that they are two different people.

There are also three different...