Fragmented Story Within a Story
While there's no way to argue that Jellicoe Road isn't primarily Taylor's story, the excerpts from Hannah's manuscript that run parallel to Taylor's quest for identity transform the book's style into a compelling parallel narrative. This isn't a new thing for literature, but Marchetta ups the ante by doing something a little crazy: Hannah's narrative is told out of sequence.
When Taylor first mentions the manuscript, she tells us, "I can't make head or tail of the story. Hannah hasn't structured it properly yet. I've gotten so used to reading it out of sequence but one day I'd like to put it in order" (2.27). What's funny about this is that while Taylor's mainly describing her personal confusion with the book, she's also describing how we feel as readers.
The italicized portions of the book—which represent excerpts from Hannah's novel—are kind of difficult to follow at first. For example, Webb disappears in Chapter 5, but in Chapter 6, he's back and sitting in the tree dreaming up plans for the house. As a result, it takes some mental acrobatics to try to order the sequence of events in our heads. Meanwhile, as the front story, Taylor's narrative proceeds in chronological order, but the lack of order to Hannah's excerpts adds a new layer to the mystery element of the book.
Aside from making us ask a ton of questions and get confused, the out of order manuscript also serves another purpose: It puts us in Taylor's head. We get to experience Hannah's book the way she does—in fragments and parts, rather than as one coherent story. As a result, we get to know our protagonist on an even more intimate level by sharing in her questions and curiosity.