Narrative Devices

Overall I felt the narration to be thoroughly reliable. Some points about the narrative devices I found compelling or not:

1. It felt like every chapter ended similarly. Here’s an example from part 1: the last sentence of the chapter “Once Upon a Time, Claude Was Born” reads, “Something that had long been true—since Rosie was twelve, half his lifetime ago—except he hadn’t known it yet” (15). Or here’s another example from “Air Currents and Other Winds.” This chapter’s last sentence reads, “But happy is harder than it sounds” (58). Or one more last sentence from “One Thing” that reads, “They told each other everything. Except for one thing.” Many of the final sentences of the chapter do this thing—and I’m using thing here because I’m not quite sure what to call it—that feels cheeky, a bit of a tip pressing us into what’s coming next, and all wrapped up in sentimentality. I’m not entirely sure I’m doing a good job even discussing it. But after two-thirds of the book, the last sentences of the chapters bothered me. They feel so composed. Which is of course what we’re all doing here, but isn’t the goal for it not to feel that way? 
2. Frankel uses long paragraphs that feel almost like lists to provide back story and history of the family. One example that I felt was incredibly well-done is on page 138. The paragraph describes the pictures on the new Seattle wall that Rosie put up and Penn took down. They’re a catalogue of Poppy’s history as Claude. A list of memories housed in photographs that provide backstory in a condensed form that doesn’t feel like telling or summary. I appreciated the way Frankel built into the narrative moments like this. Meandering paragraphs that provide the reader with necessary context, breaks from the dialogue and scene, but doesn’t overpower the reader with telling. 
3. The last narrative device I wanted to mention is the use of Grumwald and Princess Stephanie. These fairytale bedtime stories remind me of the play within a play in Hamlet. The stories serve to reveal truths about the characters, the family, and the situations they deal with. As a way of communicating with the children, the stories eventually become transparent to the kids. Aggie mentions to Poppy that there’s always a message. After a while, the stories fail to work in the way Penn hopes.