Point of View

The point of view in the story is remarkable because it belongs to narrator who is both a character in the story and dead. Susie dies in the opening moments of the novel, and from then on the reader is privy to her memories and the thoughts and actions to all the people she watches. Susie is omnipresent, and she brings the reader from the past to the present.

Language

Susie's narration is conversational in tone. She is not formal and very emotional. Her surroundings in life, such as the suburbs, her school, and her house, are not formal settings.

Susie watches her family disintegrate, so her emotions are on display in her language. There are wrenching moments, such as when Abigail leaves the family for a few years and Jack breaks down emotionally and later has a heart attack.

Susie flashes back to much of...