As with most Morrison novels, there are subtle shifts among characters and subtle clues about time. I don't catch them all on first reading, but look forward to rereading. (I think I catch more of them than I used to on first reading, however.) 
 This novel is set in early slave trade years. We meet first the slave, who is one (the?) main character, but we don't know it yet. Only a detail about her shoes carries between this and the next section about the buyer. But we don't know he is the buyer till the end of his chapter. 
 Point of view changes among four or five characters, each of their versions enriching understanding of relationships, backgrounds, and baggage each carries. It is a moving read.