Point of View

The Many Daughters of Afong Moy explores multiple perspectives (those of the “many daughters”), using a third-person limited point of view. There are no sharp contrasts in narrative style, due to the essential similarities between protagonists. “They’re all you,” as Dr. Shedhorn suggests to Dorothy (105). Instead, there is variation between their individual experiences – although as Dorothy becomes increasingly lost in memories that predate her own life, the distinctions between eras (and identities) break down. This merging of points of view culminates in Chapter 20 (“Echoes”), when Dorothy remains herself at the same time that she is Greta, Zoe, Faye, then Lai King.

Despite such overlap, the narrative voice poses few challenges to the reader. The novel sticks closely to the protagonists’ emotional journeys, without the distraction of omniscient observations or conflicting pieces of information. There is no need to balance any one point of view...