What is the setting in the novel, Jumping Off to Freedom?

The opening events of Jumping Off to Freedom begin in Cuba with David's arrest. ear of the government is part of everyday life and underlies much of people's behavior. Whether they are doing something as fundamental to ordinary life as trying to find food for their families or whether they are trying to do something as foolhardy as escape the island by boat, people try to hide what they are doing not only from the government but from friends and neighbors—anyone could be a government spy—and even putting some meat on the table could be cause for investigation.

From the bitter misery of life under a dictatorship the setting shifts to the sea between Cuba and Florida. The sea is a frightful place, first haunted by patrol boats that will pursue rafters not only into international waters but into the territorial waters of the sovereign country of the Bahamas. Then the hot sun, a storm, food and water deprivation, and sharks threaten the lives of the boat's passengers, making every moment an ordeal that is endured only for the hope of freedom.