The novel is set in a small town in Florida, near Orlando, based on a real town visited by the author who learned that the residents made their living as psychics. The town had been founded a century ago by a group of spiritualists. In a larger sense, the setting is simply Florida, a landscape very different from Lee's home in Maryland. The details are vivid, including the drone of crickets and tree frogs, the rustling of palmetto trees, and the smell of sweet olives. Within this exotic (to Lee) Florida setting is the retirement community that his grandmother lives in, Palmetto Point. Not only alien but downright hostile, the sheltered environment is oppressive for the youngster, already feeling depressed over being expelled from school for a prank. More exotic yet and decidedly more menacing is the setting of the seances held by the fake psychics. Described in...