Practice

The conflict between Geraldine and Fran was not Fran's fault, tho she is in the wrong to be meeting Paul despite having a husband already but this should not concern Geraldine. When Fran was 18 her sister Geraldine was going to have a wedding with Paul but on the night before the wedding, he called off the wedding. This was huge impact on Geraldine. Later, Paul reveals his reason to Fran,"... I was...thinking, I wish it was Fran.She's the one I really love. I wish I was marrying Fran."(pg.59) Paul really loved Fran and therefore couldn't marry Geraldine. It may seem to be Fran's fault for Geraldine's failed wedding but at the time Fran truly wished for her sisters happiness as after hearing the news, " Fran could feel the beginnings of panic stirring up inside her chest. Mixed with fury...She wanted to hit someone. Tears sprang to her eyes."(pg.32)If Fran really wanted them to break off the wedding, she would have feelings of joy not sadness and fury. Clearly it was Paul's fault for not having sorted out his feelings earlier and ended up breaking Geraldine's heart, Geraldine should not hold a grudge against Fran.

HWK

1.     Which characters speak to us directly in the first-person? Why?

Throughout the book only the characters Sophie and Fran speak to us directly in first-person. This is known as the author has used pronouns such as I, my and me. From this we can really connect with these characters as they can be said to be the most important characters in this story. In having these characters speak to us directly in first-person, we are able to feel what they feel, see the world as they see it and notice things that only they noticed. It allowed us to really understand who this character is and experience everything they had or are experiencing and know their feelings and thoughts towards others. But, at different points in the story Fran speaks in third person and in speaking in third person we get the sense that she is showing us something. In switching from first to third we are able to grasp where we are in time, whether it was the present or the flashback of the past. It made it clear not confusing.

2.     The backcover blurb suggests that Sophie is the main character of the book. Do you agree? How important is Fran? Is it significant that hers is the only voice we hear directly for almost the first quarter of the book?

I believe that Sophie is the main character as the blurb itself shows that the main character is Sophie, if people believe that Sophie is not the main character of the book then I would say that the author was unable to make it clear enough that Sophie is the main character. All the things that occur within the book mainly revolve around Sophie or is linked back to Sophie in some way, these happenings also having their meanings and their points to do with Sophie. In addition, Sophie is the only character other than Fran who speaks to us in first person and Fran only speaks in first person because her points are mainly proven within her flashbacks and in having her speaks in first person at present and third in the past help us get through the book without too much confusion. Therefore, for Sophie to be in first person would be because she is the main character and in having the main character in first person helps us understand her and be her be the main character, know the main character who is the most important.

5.     The climax of the novel – Sophie’s return, Geraldine’s confrontation of Fran and the fire that destroys the house – is narrated in the third-person. What reasons might Maureen McCarthy have had for avoiding first-person at this point?

Maureen McCarthy might have had avoided first-person at this point as at the climax, every character has a different view on something and see different things. In having it in third-person, the reader is at a neutral point where they decide to see what they see for themselves and think for themselves not what she wants them to think by being able to see the overall view. The overall image would portray the whole scene and situation better than that in the eyes of  just one character.

6.The final pages of the novel are first-person narrative. Unlike everything that has gone before, they are also written in the present tense. What is the effect of the use of present tense in this last scene, when Sophie goes to visit the Duong family?

It pulls you back to the reality or the present as though you’ve been back in time and seen everything and the final act was right here and gives you a sense that a conclusion is nearing. Then it plays the final moments as though it was before at present and the catch the last moment before it all disappears. It wraps the ending in present tense, the same way it began in present tense.