Point of View

The novel is written in the past tense, and it alternates between the third person and the first person. Whenever the novel uses the first person, it is from Irén’s perspective, thus establishing Irén as the most central character in the novel. Although the three families in the novel create a rich ensemble that is integral to the story, Irén’s perspective is the one that is most heavily emphasized overall. Thus, her struggles in her relationships to Blanka and Bálint are integral to the overall dramatic tension and narrative arc. This dynamic allows the reader to be invested in all storylines that are tangential to Irén while acknowledging that the storylines most directly connect to Irén are the most central to the themes and narrative.

However, about half of the novel uses omniscient third-person narration, which allows...