Point of View

Lippman writes the novel from a network of first person points of view, interspersed with sections of third person point of view. The third person narrator follows Maddie Schwartz's experience and perspective most closely. The first person narrators include, but are not limited to, Cleo Sherwood, Wallace Wright, Tessie Fine, Bob Bauer, Stephen Corwin, Violet Wilson Whyte, Edna Sperry, John Diller, Madame Claire, Lionel Sherwood, and Tommy Ludlow. By alternating between the first person perspectives of these side - and at times strictly peripheral - characters, and the third person narration of her protagonist's story, the author allows the narrative structure to mimic the investigative journalism experience.

By reading the intimate accounts of each first person narrator alongside Maddie's narrative, the reader becomes an active participant in Maddie's search for answers, scouring each first person section for clues to both Tessie Fine and Cleo Sherwood's...