This novel is set in the city of Edmonton, Alberta, in Canada: an urban setting which in many respects will feel familiar to readers who dwell in a North American city. In this city, there are so many streets and neighborhoods on both banks of a large river that it takes over an hour to drive from Barbara's former house to the townhouse that she and her mother rent at the beginning of the novel. The change in economic status is nicely emphasized by the house being the same size as all four units of the townhouse and by the new view being not of trees and gardens but Smith's Tool and Die Works.