Point of View

The People We Keep is written from a first person point of through the lens of April, a sixteen year old who runs away from home at the outset of the novel. The author chooses to employ this perspective in order to develop an intimacy between her protagonist and the read. By granting the reader access to April’s inner thoughts and emotions, Larkin is able to develop sympathy for April, who is struggling with feelings of abandonment, worthlessness, and loss. If the author had written The People We Keep from a third person limited or omniscient point of view, April’s struggle to reconcile her childhood trauma and delineate her own identity would not have been at the forefront of the narrative. Instead, her first person musings guide the novel as she runs away from home, moves to Ithaca, and travels around the country...