Point of View

The point of view of the novel is a close third person perspective that shifts between several different characters, but stays most closely aligned with the perspectives of the two main characters, Sofia Colicchio and Antonia Russo. Indeed, after only three sentences of Book 1 we have shifted from the perspective of one of these two characters to the perspective of both: “Sofia Colicchio is a dark-eyed animal, a quick runner, a loud shouter. She is best friends with Antonia Russo, who lives next door. They live in Brooklyn…” (5). In these same first four paragraphs of Book 1, we see the focal character of the narration shift from Red Hook families to Tommy Fianzo, from Antonia and Sofia’s fathers to their neighbors. In this way, the opening sentences and paragraphs establish an immediate expectation for the reader that the novel’s point of view will shift...