Point of View

They’re Going to Love You is written from the first person point of view of the main character Carlisle. As the protagonist of the novel, Carlisle’s experiences of the world in the past and the present therefore drive the narrative action, conflict, and tension. Although Carlisle is “forty-three and living in Los Angeles” in the narrative present, as soon as she learns that her father Robert is “nearing the end,” her mind is flooded with memories from her past in New York City (8, 22). This means that Carlisle’s struggle to reconcile herself with the prospect of losing her father and the possibility of reuniting with him before his death charges the narrative atmosphere. She is a grown woman with an independent life and career in California, but struggles throughout the novel to reconcile with the ways in which her past continues to inform...