Content Warning: This section of the guide includes discussion of death.

The novel is written from the third-person point of view. This third-person narrator alternates between Meg’s, Claire’s, and Joe’s storylines. In some passages, the narrator will inhabit Meg’s consciousness and describe the narrative world according to her perspective of it; in other passages, the narrator will move away from Meg and inhabit Claire’s or Joe’s consciousnesses, describing the narrative world according to their points of view.

The third-person narrator enacts the overarching relationships between the primary characters. While Meg, Claire, and Joe are living separate lives and have distinct internal experiences, they are all connected in a soulful way. The third-person narrator formally represents and affects this connection. Even when Meg, Claire, and Joe aren’t in the same space or are at odds with each other, the third-person narrator unites them. The author, therefore, uses this narrative vantage point to show how the characters’ hearts remain connected even amidst emotional challenges and across geographical and temporal divides.

The third-person limited point of view also captures the complexities of Meg’s, Claire’s, and Joe’s experiences with Personal Growth via Facing the Past.