Point of View

Though the overall narrative is told mainly from Izzy's point of view, significant portions of the story are concurrently intercut with Clara's storyline from the 1920s through the 1930s. Both women's stories are told from a third person perspective, which makes them mirror one another in terms of style.

When Izzy encounters a difficulty, she also does so in the past tense, making her actions and obstacles seem as if they have just occurred as they unfold. Similarly, Clara's story, though set in the more distant past, is also told from a past tense perspective, which like Izzy's quest makes Clara's goals and conflicts seem similar in linguistic construction to the reader.

Past tense storytelling is effective in storytelling because events have always just unfolded, have already occurred, even as the reader first learns of them. This also means the reader is having to perpetually...