Sharing narrative choices with the reader: pro or con?

I know since I am one of this week's presenters I can technically take the day off from blog writing but I just had a quick 2 cents to share! I've been thinking about our conversation last week surrounding the areas of Al-Maria's narrative that were brought up and then sort of drifted out of the frame without much explanation or further exploration. I remember Linsey saying she was a little miffed by some of these moments and wished we'd had more info about Al-Maria's choices.

I really appreciated the section Small added to the end of the novel with the pictures of his parents and himself in which he gave a brief mention to the areas he chose not to explore too much because they were "outside what (he) could imagine or understand as a child". He acknowledges one of the biggest bombs dropped in the story, that mama was a closeted lesbian and explains his reason for not delving into it more deeply: "If this had been her story, not mine, her secret life as a lesbian would certainly have been examine more closely".

I am not suggesting that Small owed us this explanation but I liked that he stood up for his memoirist right to tell his story according to the lens of his choosing. I'm curious what you guys think. Did this section help you as a reader? Or could you have just as easily lived without it? Do you like being let in on author's narrative choices? What effect does seeing the 'real' pictures of himself and his family have on you as a reader of his memoir?


Lots more to say about this book but I'll save it for Wednesday!