Genre
Bildungsroman / Historical Fiction
Setting and Context
Set in Atlanta in the 1980s
Narrator and Point of View
First-person narration from both Dana and Chaurisse’s points of view.
Tone and Mood
Tense, poignant, and occasionally humorous.
Protagonist and Antagonist
The protagonists are Dana and Chaurisse while the antagonist is the family secrets, complicity, and bigamy.
Major Conflict
The narrative involves two families –one public and the other a secret – of a bigamist man who has kept the truth from his first family. The second family or rather the secret one is aware of the truth and has to grapple with being kept under wraps. The two daughters from the families form a friendship that eventually leads to the big secret being revealed. Moreover, the girls are dealing with young womanhood including insecurities and abandonment issues.
Climax
The climax occurs when the girls’ car gets a flat tire on their way to a party and Chaurisse has to call her father leading to secrets being exposed after Gwen arrives too.
Foreshadowing
“My father, James Witherspoon, is a bigamist.”
This opening statement foreshadows the conflict in the narrative that involves the two families.
Understatement
N/A
Allusions
The novel alludes to the dynamic of bigamy where the families have to maneuver through keeping secrets and social scrutiny. Furthermore, this narrative alludes to closely-knit communities where family secrets involving infidelity, connivance, and are usually spread through rumors and speculations.
Imagery
“Mother rose from the bed and got down on her knees so we were the same height. As she pressed her hands down on my shoulders, traces of cigarette smoke lingered in her tumbly hair.”
Paradox
Chaurisse is enamored by Dana because of her physical appearance while Dana is obsessed with her for having the love of their father.
Parallelism
The narrative is told from two perspectives with each demonstrating the life of either Dana or Chaurisse. Chaurisse’s point of view shows a young girl coping with her own insecurities while Dana’s a girl dealing with being the “other daughter”. The more they become friends the more they find they have much in common as young women despite their respective circumstances.
Metonymy and Synecdoche
N/A
Personification
“Even my feet let go and settled themselves limp in my pretty shoes.”
