Taipei, Taiwan, late 1980s - early '90s

Taipei is the capital of Taiwan and the geographic location of the novel. The narrator's college years begin in tandem with the rise of post-Martial Law in Taiwan. The abdication of military control over the government increased the freedom of oppositional political parties to form, but the government kept its firm grasp on individual freedoms, like assembly, speech, and the press--contextualizing the narrator's jaded attitude toward the political system.

During this era, Taiwan had also staked its claim as an international economic power, in the ranks of the United States and China. The narrator's distaste for this economic climate seeps into her critiques of society throughout the text.

National Tsing Hua University, 1987 - 1991

This university is the general setting of the novel and the time spent here is the phase of the narrator's life before entering adulthood. It represents a rite...