Milwaukee, WI

The bulk of All This Could Be Different takes place in the city of Milwaukee, notable both for its diversity and its location in the center of the United States. Sneha receives a fair number of strange looks from Milwaukee locals because it is not a popular destination for immigrants, and she is also criticized or questioned by some of the friends she made in college, who wonder why she opted to move to a relatively small city in the center of the country rather than staying in a large metropolitan area with more opportunities for her career. The novel takes pains to celebrate the specific history of Milwaukee (particularly through its connection to twentieth century labor movements) and emphasizes that its small-town feel is partly responsible for Sneha's ability to integrate herself into American life and begin forming a community of peers. Indeed, in the latter...