Does it matter when the then was?

Am very tempted to say I thought How I live now was "really, really nice", but conscious that this sort of appraisal doesn't belong here, and will be totally disatisfying to my fellow "Together in Spirit" colleagues - sorry it's my warped sense of humour coming out!

Anyway, did truly enjoy How I live now. Struggled initially, but warmed hugely to it. And the reason being largely to do with the title of my posting. At first, like Ruth and Helen S (I think it was you two) was left with too many unanswered questions, connected with when was this going on, what was the wider context - so found it frustrating. But then accepted that these questions were unlikely to be answered, and in fact lead credibility to the narrator's voice - it reminded me that recollections of events are so personal, and this was the story of a 15 year old and her "war" and hence the particular lens through which we were party to the events that unfolded.