Point of View

The novel is written from a third person free indirect point of view. This means that over the course of the novel, the third person narrator splits her attention between each of the novel's primary characters. In the course of a single scene, for example, the narrator might inhabit Manie's, Anton's, Amor's, and Astrid's individual and distinct perspectives. These shifts back and forth between the characters' consciousnesses grant the novel an expansive thematic reach, while also complicating the narrative structure, conflicts, and stakes.

The reader might refer to a passage from the opening section, "Ma," for a better understanding of this unique narrative point of view. After the Swart family members are reassembled under the same roof, they all go to bed. The narrator says: "In the various rooms downstairs everything is mostly inert . . . But upstairs, in the bedrooms, there is a flickering going on...