Boston

This is where the novel begins. It is the family home of the Lees, and the place to which Birdie returns after her years of running. The city is still simmering with civil rights unrest several years after the peak of the movement in the 1960s.

Aurora

A place that Sandy and Birdie live for a time during their years in exile together, Aurora frequently brings back memories for Birdie, especially when she is in intimate situations with boys. During their time in Aurora, Sandy also has a lesbian relationship with a woman named Bernadette. Like aurora borealis, Aurora and its meaning in Birdie’s life are mysterious.

New Hampshire

The state in which Sandy and Birdie finally settle after running for several years. Ironically for Sandy, who’s devoted her life to racial equality, the place in which she chooses to remain is almost universally white...