After I Do

The novel is written from Lauren Spencer’s first-person perspective. This formal choice grants access to Lauren’s internal world. Because Lauren is narrating, all of the novel’s conflicts, events, and explorations originate from Lauren’s consciousness. For example, when she and Ryan Cooper fight after the Dodgers game and Ryan leaves, Lauren says, “I can’t believe that I have thrown a vase at the wall. I can’t believe that the crushed mess of glass on the floor is because of me. I wasn’t intending to hurt him” (59). A passage such as this one captures Lauren’s vulnerability and exposes her true feelings and thoughts. She isn’t articulating this internal experience in dialogue, but her first-person narration grants an intimate level of access to her experience.

Over the course of the novel, the way that Lauren translates her internal experience to the page evolves. She becomes increasingly introspective and incorporates more questions and hesitations into her narration. These formal shifts instigate tonal changes that trace Lauren’s evolution over time. The novel is most focused upon exploring Lauren’s journey of personal growth and her changing outlook on love, and for this reason, the author uses Lauren’s perspective to ground these explorations within the protagonist’s psyche.