Point of View

The narrator of Theory of Bastards tells the story from a third-person limited perspective, through the eyes of Frankie Burk, with only three notable exceptions. At the end of Chapter 13 and the beginning of Chapter 17, the narrator’s viewpoint shifts from Frankie to the keeper. In Chapter 41, the narrator addresses the reader directly.

Frankie Burk is the main character of the novel. The narrator weaves her current actions and past experiences together to create a full picture of this woman, a 33-year-old biologist who is recovering from a recent hysterectomy while starting a new research project about the mating habits of bonobos. The flashbacks are usually set off with asterisks.

At the Foundation, Frankie begins to develop a relationship with her assistant, Stotts, and the narrator cleverly hints that he is falling for her before she realizes. However, just to drive the point home, in...