Barren Shoal

Barren Shoal is where the bulk of the novel takes place, home to the Eisenstein family during Marta's childhood and adolescence. A very small island that makes up the island network of Jamaica Bay, Barren Shoal is known for its intolerable, disgusting smell coming from the garbage barges bringing in animal carcasses that will be butchered and rendered into glue and grease by factory workers. Most of Barren Shoal's male residents work at the factory and suffer through horrid working conditions and little pay.

Forces that affect the rest of the world, such as economic collapse during the Great Depression and rising anti-semitism as Nazi Germany gains power, also affect Barren Shoal, however more positive forces such as social services and labor unions often overlook its isolated residents. Barren Shoal is home to families primarily of ethnic descent, including Jewish, Greek, Italian, and African American people. At...