What is the setting of Special Topics in Calamity Physics by Marisha Pessl?

The setting of Marisha Pessl's novel Special Topics in Calamity Physics is that of Stockton, North Carolina, an upper class town near the Smoky Mountains. The setting is perfect for the novel, because Hannah Schneider uses the mountains and the woods to attempt to escape. The wooded setting of the novel provides a metaphorical device as well: being lost in the woods can be viewed as metaphorical for Blue's being lost in her own life when she uncovers the amount of deception that has plagued it.