First Person (Central and Peripheral Narrator)
No one ever said that you need to play by the rules when writing a book: we don't just get a central, first-person narrator; we also get a peripheral one.
Here, let us explain.
A first-person peripheral narrator is one who tells someone else's story. This should sound familiar, as the first part of the book is pretty much all about Leah, Rachel, Zilpah, and Bilhah. We rarely get any "I's" referring to Dinah, and she delves deep into the minds of her mothers. We get a sense that Dinah must have asked her mothers about their relationships to Jacob and each other, as we get pretty detailed descriptions from each mother. For a while, we might even think that Leah or Rachel is the narrator—but then we see the pivotal "I" and realize there's someone else.
That's when the book shifts to first person central, which is your everyday, normal first-person narrator. That's when you get the events directly from the narrator's point of view. So when Part Two is titled "My Story," you can pretty much infer that it's going to be all in first person central.
So, really, we get a little bit of peripheral narration in the beginning, then a direct narration for the rest of the book. That means we get a lot of different views from characters. We're not just limited to Dinah; we get to see the thoughts of people like Leah and Rachel, too.
Aye, but here's the rub: in the very end of the books—yes, the very end—a "you" is addressed.
Yep, that's a switch to second person, where the narrator speaks to another person or to the reader directly. Whoa, we won't go there, but that's something to chew on.
Cough, cough—take a look at the "What's Up With the Ending?" section if you want to know a little more about what goes down with this mysterious "you."