Point of View

The action of the novel is narrated from two different points of view. The "past" narrative, set in the 1790s and following the story of Mireille, is told from the third person omnipotent perspective. The "present" narrative, set in the 1970s and following Catherine's story, is told from the first person objective point of view.

There are occasions, however, when the point of view in the "present" story changes to third person objective, once in Section 4 and once in Section 6. On both these occasions, the narrative perspective shifts to accommodate information Catherine says she learned later - information about Solarin's actions that he, it can be assumed, revealed to her when they realized they were on the same side and comparing notes about their experiences. When this occurs is never explicitly defined, but it's possible that it takes place during the time Catherine and Solarin (and...