Point of View

The point of view in "Miss Buncle's Book" is third person omniscient, meaning the narrator is all knowing but jumps around from character to character. The chapter titles generally indicate which characters are going to be the main focus for the chapter. Sometimes in a single chapter the narrator will describe the thoughts of more than one character. This type of point of view allows the author to explore many different characters. It also reinforces the style that one might expect from John Smith, aka Barbara Buncle, writing the Copperfield novels, which is to say that it has a wide cast of characters and knows everything about them in a gossipy kind of way.

Language and Meaning

The language of "Miss Buncle's Book" is accessible with vocabulary that is somewhat elevated. At times—such as with the opening pages and some of the later chapters...