Point of View

Lucy by the Sea is written from the main character Lucy’s first person point of view. By writing the novel from Lucy’s first person perspective, the author is able to inhabit and to grant her reader access to Lucy’s most private thoughts and vulnerable feelings. In turn, the narrative structure and form, parameters and stakes, are all dictated by Lucy’s distinct manner of seeing and perceiving, processing and engaging with the world around her. Indeed, in a novel whose conflicts and tensions are not derived from a series of sensational plot points, the reader relies upon Lucy’s complex inner workings to understand the author’s overarching thematic explorations regarding isolation and loneliness, loss and grief, love and intimacy.

Lucy’s first person voice and tone are confessional and bald, open and unabashed. Even when Lucy is experiencing, thinking, or feeling...