Point of View

This novel is written in a variety of different points of view including the first-person point of view and third-person point of view. Several chapters are written by an anonymous first-person narrator. The identity of this first-person narrator, Lilly, is not revealed until nearly the end of the novel. This first-person narration provides a way for Lilly to keep her identity a secret. For instance: “We messed up. We didn’t think about the knife and the DNA all over it – my DNA. We had to hide it, quick. I’m pretty sure Mum noticed” (21). This first-person narration confirms that one of Patrick’s children stabbed him, but does not say who did the stabbing. These sections are written in the present tense, giving the reader the feeling that he is experiencing the same thing that the narrator is experiencing. Chapters 1, 5, 7, 14, 23, 25, 30, 36, 41, 49, and 60 are all narrated...