The plot of this novel is driven by deliberate withholding of information. A reader can tell that the narrator is keeping something vital and the desire to find out what is being hidden ensures the pages are continually flipped. Instances like this add to the book’s allure. For instance, later in Esther’s letters to Amina, when things have fallen apart, we gain more clarity, a clarity well-fleshened out in  Iyanifa's perspective.