Anna, it sounds like you're talking about the omniscient POV -- where the reader can peek into any character's head at any time. It used to be a lot more popular... see Georgette Heyer for an example of head-hopping! <g> I think of it as sort of the writing equivalent of a TV camera -- instead of reading an actor's face and body language, you're reading the description of it. And the camera shows you every character.
PJ
