Point of View

The novel is written from the first person point of view of an unnamed narrator. This narrator is a self-identified “oldish white woman in her late fifties” (1). At the start of the novel, she says that this is “the identity I am burdened with publicly presenting, to my general embarrassment” (1). Throughout the chapters that follow this moment from the prologue, the narrator’s insecurity about her appearance, her academic standing, and her artistic success infuse the narrative with tension. Indeed, the narrator’s thoughts, and thus her narration are often consumed by the ways that others see her. The narrator becomes particularly obsessive about comparing herself to others after meeting her attractive colleague Vladimir and his enigmatic wife Cynthia. Therefore, large swaths of the narrative are dominated by the narrator's interiority, and the way this internal sphere interacts with her external surroundings.

The majority of...