Philadelphia

Philadelphia is one of the most important geographical settings in the novel. Philadelphia is the most populous city in the state of Pennsylvania. In 1925, Hattie and August move from Georgia to Philadelphia with their newborn twins. The twins die of pneumonia soon after the family arrives in Philadelphia. Over the following decades, they continue to live in Philadelphia and raise children.

Georgia

Hattie and August were born and raised in the state of Georgia. After they married, they decided to move to Philadelphia in order to escape the southern states’ Jim Crow laws and other forms of racial oppression. One specific example of this oppression is when Hattie’s father was murdered by a group of white men. They murdered him because he was an African-American and a business-owner. The murderers faced no consequences. Later in the novel, Floyd falls in love with a man while Floyd is...