Point of View

Geraldine Brooks tells her novel People of the Book in both the first and third-person narrative modes, each with limited omniscience given the context of their times. Taken together, the limited-omniscient perspectives of the narrators of their times give the reader, and the reader alone, a full and comprehensive view of the events of the novel surrounding the Haggadah. While the characters in their own times are not always fully aware of these events, the reader is. All of Hanna’s sections are recounted in the first-person, while the majority of the historical sections are recounted by a third-person narrator. This helps to distinguish the present from the past in some circumstances, but also gives the reader keen insights into the thoughts, feelings, and actions of particular characters – such as Hanna, Zahra, and Lola – in very unique circumstances. This is especially true of characters absolutely...