Metaphor and the use of multiple narratives are two central ways in which Lalage creates an existence for Poppy. The use of the Adriadne myth as a metaphor for Poppy herself is effective in that the myth also acts as to underline both the purpose and form of the novel. In terms of Lalage's employment of multiple and shifting narratives, not only does this approach allow a fictional creation of Poppy, it also forms the framework for the form of the novel with regards to its network of multiple discourses. Additionally, it allows Lalage to achieve her purpose of merging her own story, her attitudes and emotional reactions to the story conveyed, with the story of Poppy's life in order to achieve a deeper understanding of her mother's story. .
When Lalage explains to the reader how "that visit gave Poppy a way of imagining herself. Or maybe it's only me who is given that, for my task is to find pattern and shape in her life" , she reveals a great deal of the way in which she creates an existence for Poppy. The visit she refers to is Poppy's visit to Crete and her learning of the story of Adriadne:.
She knew that Theseus, the son of the Athenian King Aegeus, was among the shipment of youths who"d arrived on Crete for sacrifice to the minotour. She knew that Adriadne fell in love with him and gave him the ball of thread that would guide him to the monster and bring him back from the labyrinth to her. Theseus killed the monster, and claimed Adriadne as he promised, escaping with her from Crete and her cruel father, King Minos the Athenians put in at Naxos where Adriadne fell asleep on the beach. When she woke, Theseus had sailed without her. (p. 117).
Poppy came to view the story of Adriadne as "emblematic of her own" (p. 117). More importantly however, Lalage uses the narrative discourse of the myth of Adriadne consistently to reinforce it as a metaphor for Poppy's life, allowing Lalage to give "pattern" and "shape" to the life of her mother of a fictional nature.
