Saturnalia takes place in colonial America, in snowy Boston of December 1681. It is a place of gloom, in which the Mr. Baggots of the world view happiness with suspicion, a world in which the "tithingman" would like to see independence and joy destroyed.

And yet, there are flashes of human goodness in this somber world—of William's family who loves him, of the celebration of Saturnalia—and there are flashes of humor and good fun in the story of poor, pompous Mr. Hogwood. Furthermore, Fleischman's writing has a mythic quality to it that makes the novel transcend the colonial setting and take on a timeless tone—much in the way Nathaniel Hawthorne's writing about colonial America transcends its period.