Point of View

The novel is written in first person from the limited perspective of Eliza Boylston. Eliza is a privileged, wealthy child but she writes this novel looking back from years later, which means she is probably more honest about her actions and attitudes than she would have been at the time they occurred. She also has more knowledge from this future standpoint. For example, she does not know that John Watkins is a slave when she first meets him, but she does know that detail by the time she is writing, which may influence how she introduces him and how she explains the early stages of their relationship.

There are multiple scenes repeated in this novel from Eliza's perspective that were first seen in the first novel of the series. In most cases, there are only slight differences that can be explained by the fact that...