Point of View

There are two meaningfully different narrative perspectives used in this novel, which are directly tied into the structure of the novel which is discussed below. For the first half of the novel—which encompasses a short chapter that focuses on Dora Judd in 1950, and then a nearly 100-page chapter that focuses on Ellis Judd in 1996—a third-person narrator is used. However, unlike many novels that are narrated in third-person, the direct lines of dialogue from different characters are not included within quotation marks. This creates a sort of dream-like effect that mirrors Ellis’ depression: for instance, many of the exact details of the scene where he “talks” to Annie at his house after getting home from work are not explicitly stated. Rather, there is the dream-like idea that Ellis is imagining having a conversation with Annie.

The second half of the novel, in the part...