Each chapter of the book starts with an excerpt from Inez’s final letter to Rita. What did you think of this technique? How do you feel it set the stage for the chapter each precedes, or for the book in general?
Hearing from Inez at the beginning of each chapter was an interesting choice. I felt it made me come to know her character better as most of the book was about Rita.
I loved this feature of the book. Her letters not only added narrative, but also set the reader up for what was to come. For example, when she first learns about the sinking, she writes to Rita: “I would gladly have switched places with you…even the ending..especially that.”
I really enjoyed it. And it honestly threw me when I reached the end of the book and everything became clear.
II enjoyed this feature because it provided background thoughts for the reader and at end the reason including became even clearer.
I liked this technique. I liked knowing more about Inez. I liked her much more than Rita. She was the shy sister the one always in the background.
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I think this was a unique way to introduce each chapter. Inez provides an intimate, personal view on how the events affected both sisters.
I felt it added tension to the story as it provided a sense of foreboding and a clue that something happened to Inez. It also provided access to Inez and her thoughts, and was a very effective way of filling in the blanks in the story as needed.
This was such a win for me. I thought it helped to know Inez better, to have a greater narrative direction, and to have a solid framework for each chapter. By the time I read the last chapter, I appreciated it even more.
I enjoyed the opportunity the author had to give us foreshadowing. When I got to the end and found out how the letters fit in with the narrative it felt like final piece of the puzzle fell into place.
I also really enjoyed this technique and found myself going back to re-read several entries with new insight as the book progressed.
It took me a couple of chapters to catch on, but from then I loved Inez’s letter. I turned back to reread them several times, butforced myself not to skip ahead!
These excerpts helped keep the plot flowing seamlessly as well as giving the reader more insight into both Inez and Rita.
I liked this element. It gave more insight into Rita while supporting the novel’s structure. An interesting method.
I like this technique for this particular book. Inez was such a private person that the excerpts gave readers insights into her character that we would not have had otherwise. It set the stage for the events of the chapter but it also inundated the relationship between the sisters. I think it would work less well for other books.
I really liked this part of each chapter. There was a little foreshadowing which makes the book more intriguing (you know what is ultimately going to happen to the boat before the book even starts but not all of the details about the individual characters). It also helped us get to know Inez better. I thought it made the ending even more bittersweet.
I loved the technique of expanding on, even foreshadowing events of the story, in the letter from Inez. It did require some discipline! not to skip ahead and, initially, some thought to discover what was actually happening, but the overall effect of revealing pieces of the plot in the words of Inez was powerful. Also, in her letter, Inez revealed even more the close bond of these sisters.
I actually found it very confusing at first, because I wasn’t sure who the letters were from. When I finally did catch on, I began to like the technique. At times it was foreshadowing, and at times it was clarifying. I began to look forward to seeing what the letters would reveal!
I thought these letter excerpts were a unique and effective way to give us more insight into Inez and her feelings. I really enjoyed it.
That was a very effective narrative technique, because it enhanced the dramatic tension. Those excerpts contained a lot of clues and foreshadowing, so I sometimes found myself reading “just one ore chapter” before taking a break because of what I read in those introductory passages.