Because Broyard's book consists of eight separate stories, each story has its own setting, but they flash back to the uppermiddle-class neighborhoods these women lived in as children, places that help characterize the fathers as worldly professional men and the daughters as privileged young women who have lived rather sheltered lives. These young women all grew up in New England, and they all attended elite, private schools. The school setting comes into play in several stories, revealing the bond young women often develop with older male teachers in their desire for father figures in their lives.

Broyard emphasizes the everlasting bond between fathers and daughters by exploring their relationships in both past and present contexts. The cabin in "At the Bottom of the Lake" is a place of the past, as are the kitchen and barrooms where the young woman shared intimate moments with her father in "My...