Point of View

The novel is written in the first-person point of view. The narrating character is Susan Dobson Chilmark, the fourteen-year-old daughter of a Southern Belle and her West Point trained husband. Susan is a staunch supporter of the Confederate Cause when the novel begins, working hard to prove to Richmond and her mother in particular that she cares just as much about the Cause as everyone else. However, as the novel progresses and Susan begins to lose everything that matters to her, her father, her friend, her identity, Susan begins to question her undying commitment to the Cause and work to aid the Union.

The point of view of this novel works well because it tells a story through the eyes of one person, a fourteen-year-old girl who is struggling to figure out her own identity in a world turned upside down. The author remains with only...