comment on structure

The novel is written in five parts. Each part contains multiple sections, each section entitled not by a number but by a phrase that refers to some event or person important to that section. There are no breaks between sections, only the title to let the reader know they are beginning a new section. The novel is told in a linear fashion, beginning with the Dollanganger children riding a bus headed to Florida, and taking them through the rest of their childhoods and into adulthood. The novel is told in both exposition and dialogue, with the author offering a great deal of internal monologue as Catherine explains her actions or feelings in relation to some important development within the plot.