Point of View

"The Woman Who Walked Into Doors" is told through the first-person viewpoint of Paula O'Leary Spencer, an Irish housewife trying to make sense of her memories of her husband Charlo. Paula starts out in the present, but she is soon lost in memory and most of the book is told in flashback form. Paula's point of view is greatly shaped by the domestic tyranny of her father and later, of her husband. Paula's interpretation of events she remembers is often disturbing, as she admits how destructive Charlo was, and still steps up to defend him. When she does not want to admit that she is an unreliable narrator, her older sister Carmel speaks up, laughing at Paula for inventing happy memories instead of looking at the truth. Paula also has trouble keeping the facts straight when alcohol is involved, which it always is. Paula's desperation and...