Through the books’ second person POV, readers are able to get to know the main character, Ramatoulaye, and also her view on the other people in her life. Ramatoulaye is close with her friend, Aissatou, which then helps them see what Aissatou’s life is like and her story as well. But, the con of receiving information from only one character, is that you don’t get to know how the other characters really feel in situations. Because even if the character is telling the story in the second person, they could be unreliable. For example, Mawdo’s cousin, Nabou, was forced to marry Mawdo at a young age, but we never get to know how she felt about the situation. We only see her as a “ bad” character because she got in the way of Mawdo and Aissatou’s marriage and caused them to separate. This makes sense, though, given that Ramatoulaye and Aissatou are friends and Ramatoulaye will believe her friend's side and validate her feelings in situations. Similarly within Ramatoulaye’s own life, we don’t see how her daughter’s ex-friend, Binetou, feels about marrying Ramatoulaye’s husband, Madou. We don’t see how Binetou might have felt extreme guilt about it all and we don't know what happened to her relationship to Ramatoulaye’s daughter. The second POV makes sense since we get to see Ramatoulaye’s and Aissatou’s views on their lives and all the trouble they have gone through as a woman in their culture with their husbands in polygamy relationships. I believe the effect the POV has on the book is it makes the readers feel involved in the story. The second person uses the word "you" which, in the format of the book, makes it seem the Ramatoulaye is talking to the audience in some ways. Which can be more relatable for the audience if they are experiencing something similar in their own lives and relating it like Ramatoulaye is writing to them.