Point of View

In the Prologue, the first-person narrator is unnamed and is going into labor. When the narration shifts to third-person in Chapter 1, the focus of the narration remains unidentified and picks up fourteen months later. This discombobulates the reader as the world is introduced and the reader speculates about who and what to believe.

The third-person omniscient narration allows the reader to get to know the other mothers in the May Mothers. The only mother not represented is Winnie, who is seen only through the eyes of the other characters. It allows for Winnie to remain a prime suspect throughout the novel as other motives and opportunities are revealed.

The Prologue takes place on Mother's Day. Chapter 1 and the Epilogue take place fourteen months after the abduction. The remainder of the novel covers a two-pronged investigation into Midas’s abduction. While the narration never focuses on...