Point of View

The novel is written in first-person and is divided between the perspectives of Fern Castle and her sister Rose. Fern is socially inept. She struggles to fully understand many situations and does not instinctively understand social clues. That would make her an unreliable narrator, but Fern has dedicated herself to learning to recognize these clues and situations, which makes her more reliable. Despite the fact that she has learned to recognize situations, it does not come naturally to her, meaning she still does not understand every situation. For example, Carmel makes the statement that Fern has not signed up for the bowling event. Fern is confused because Carmel stands there, obviously waiting for something in return from Fern. Fern cannot figure out what the question was. This makes her less reliable.

The relationship between Fern and Rose is complicated by their shared history and close...